His Chosen Path
by Shinjanji
Summary: What happens when a young man's love for Misty releases his mind from the bounds of his reality?
1. Reality?

This is a story that I've had going on for almost four years now, off and on (mostly off). Enjoy!

Shinjanji

**His Chosen Path**

**Chapter 1: Reality?**

Blackness. There was nothing but blackness that filled Andrew's room as he lay awake this night. Outside, a car passed, the light from its headlights streaming into Andrew's room, illuminating the room with alternating strips of light and shadow through his window blinds. As the car continued its pass, the room momentarily glowed in a faint red, and then faded back to its prior blackness.

"_What's going on? Why can't I sleep?_" Andrew pondered, heaving himself over onto his side to look at his clock. "Three twenty-four AM," he mumbles, staring at the glowing green digits as if they would suddenly rearrange themselves to show a time he would appreciate more, such as 11:00 or 12:00. Though at that the rate that time passed, it seemed to Andrew as though he would never experience the comfort of sleep this night. "_Maybe I'm just ill, or suffering from insomnia or something, like usual. But it's strange… I just… feel different tonight. I know what insomnia feels like… and this isn't it,_" Andrew thought, as he rolled onto his back again, his hands supporting his head from behind a pillow.

"_Since I can't get any sleep, I guess I'll see if there's anybody online I can talk to,_" Andrew concluded. As he sat up, he exposed his back, which caught the cold air suddenly and caused him to shiver. He reached for his shirt, which was dangling off the edge of the dresser, and put it on. Andrew then shifted his feet off the bed and onto the floor, and hauled himself to his feet. Slowly and devoid of energy, he shuffled his feet across the carpet, headed towards his computer desk. As he grabbed the computer chair, an arc of static electricity jumped from his bone-dry hand.

Andrew pulled the chair out, and let himself fall into the seat like a ton of bricks. He turned on his computer monitor and placed his right hand over the mouse. He sat with his left arm lazily propping up his head, as his right hand slowly moved the mouse to navigate through his computer, and start up his instant messaging program. The program started, and immediately began to connect to its server. As Andrew waited for it to connect, he let his eyelids fall shut, and mumbled to himself, "I sure hope there's somebody online that I can talk to." Yawning, he opened his eyes just enough to see that a message had appeared on the screen. Reading it, Andrew let out a sigh, thinking, "_It figures, the server is gonna' be down all night for 'maintenance'. Even near two thousand and four, they have to shut down servers and perform maintenance. Why can't they automate it?!_"

Andrew tried to lift himself out of the seat, but was too tired to move. He let himself fall back into the chair, his head leaning back and pointed towards the ceiling. Before he realized it, Andrew fell asleep from the wasted energy of dragging himself over to his computer. He awoke suddenly, and looked at his monitor to check the time. However, his monitor's screen had turned completely white.

When Andrew tried to move his hand back up to the mouse, it refused to move. He tried again, and again his arm did not respond. He found himself unable to move any limb at all. "_What's going on?!_" he frantically thought. He tried to speak, to call out for someone else's assistance, but there was no sound to his voice. His hands began to lift off the arms of the chair, as if of their own free will. Andrew tried to order movement from them, but they only proceeded along their ascent. Andrew then felt a tug forward, as his hands began to move towards the bright white monitor screen. Now, his hands felt as if they were being pulled, but he still could not pull them back.

Andrew's hands touched the surface of the monitor glass, and plunged effortlessly through it, as though it wasn't even there, and began to fade away into the white of the screen. He began to panic, and tried harder to pull his hands back, but still to no avail. "_I'm dreaming… I have to be!_" He thought as his wrists were being enveloped by the white glow, still moving inward towards the monitor screen. On a whim, he tried to push forward, and wound up plunging his arms into the screen, up to his elbows. He tried to pull back, but his arms had resumed their previous automatic travel into the white of his screen.

"_Well, if that's the way my arms are going, so be it!_" Andrew concluded, and plunged himself the rest of the way into his monitor screen, his view turning completely white as his head passed through.

Andrew felt his arms go limp, and felt as though he were standing on some surface. He tried once more to move his arms, and this time, they responded. All around him, though, he saw only white. Only if he blinked did the white disappear. It was like a fog, but so thick, Andrew could practically swim in it. He was also incapable of seeing anything at all but the white, even if he held his hand so close to his eyes that his eyelashes were brushing up against it.

"Andrew…" Andrew heard a voice call. The voice sounded as though it belonged to a woman, but Andrew could see nothing in any direction, and the voice seemed to come from all around him. The voice called to him again, "Go forward…" Andrew opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. The woman's voice repeated its instruction. Andrew, deciding that he had no other alternatives in this whiteness, proceeded forward in his current direction.

A grey and shapeless blob began to form in the distance. Andrew hastened his pace towards the object, now using it as a reference as to where he was going. As Andrew neared the grey silhouette, it sharpened into a human shape, but was still very blurry. He proceeded closer, until the soft human-shaped blob seemed to be right in his face, though he could not reach out and touch it, nor make out what it was beyond the blurred shape of a person. As he examined the blob, it, and the white fog behind it, suddenly whisked away to reveal that Andrew was right in the face of a woman, so close they almost touched noses.

Startled, Andrew lunged back, only to find his sudden forceful reverse was abruptly halted by a cold and very hard surface, causing pain to shoot through his head, which had contacted the surface hardest.

As the flashing spots and sudden darkening faded from his eyes, he focused his view on the woman standing in front of him. She was an average height, with an even and healthy skin tone, her eyes were blue, and she had dark and shiny auburn hair, cut short. She wore a grey executive suit, and glasses with thin, silver rims. She seemed as though she were quite humored, having startled Andrew so badly. She extended her right hand, smiled, and said calmly, "Nice to meet you, Andrew. My name is Rebecca."

Andrew extended his right hand to meet Rebecca's in a handshake, while his left was busy rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head. He recognized Rebecca's voice as being the same voice that had been calling to him not even a minute before. Andrew, thinking that he still wasn't able to talk, merely let go of Rebecca's hand, and continued to absentmindedly rub the sore on the back of his head, which was beginning to swell slightly. Rebecca spoke again, "Andrew, its all right to talk now." Andrew hesitated for a moment, and said, "What in the world am I doing here? What's going on? Am I dreaming or something?"

Rebecca chuckled slightly, and replied, "I'll answer those questions in a minute. For now, let's just get to my office, and we'll talk there." Rebecca started off down the hallway, while Andrew took the moment to examine the hallway they were in. It certainly didn't look like an office building, that's for sure. It seemed to Andrew as more of a castle, with its arched stone ceiling, stone floor, and alternating segments of dark hardwood and stone, set between stone columns. Centered in the wooden segments on the left side of the hallway were arched wooden doors with dark iron trim, rivets included. On each door seemed to be a small golden plaque.

The hall itself seemed to curve to the right. As Andrew stepped forward to follow Rebecca, he turned around to look at where he had just come from. A solid stone section of wall, set in between two solid stone columns. There was no door on the stone segment. "How did I…?" Andrew muttered to himself as he thought about the physical impossibility of walking through a solid wall of stone as if it were thin air. He shrugged it off, as it was starting to give him a headache. He turned around and jogged to catch up with Rebecca.

After walking down the hall with Rebecca, it seemed to Andrew as though the hall took no other direction other than the same arc to the right. He figured that they should have reached the other side of the wall of stone several times over, and the hallway angled neither upward nor downward.

Andrew decided to start some idle conversation while he and Rebecca walked. "So, what kind of place is this, some kind of castle?"

"Yeah, it is, but its no castle that exists anywhere on Earth."

"What do you mean 'doesn't exist on Earth'?" Andrew inquired, getting curious.

"Just as I said, we're in a castle that does not exist anywhere on Earth as you know, err, knew it."

Andrew started to become paranoid. "Knew it? What—am I dead or something?"

"I'll explain when we get to my office."

With that, the conversation ended. Rebecca eventually stopped at a door, and Andrew stopped nearby, and examined the door's plaque. The engraving read "**Room T-3B**." "Here we are, room T-three-B," Rebecca said, turning a lever on the door downwards, and pushing the door open.

As Andrew stepped inside the room behind Rebecca, he looked around and saw that Rebecca's 'office' looked much the same as the hallway in which it was located. The floor was stone, and so were the walls. There was a fireplace along the wall across from the door, throwing off a soft orange glow, and it was positioned so that the chimney was hidden inside a stone column. Along the lower half of the walls to the left of the fireplace were counters, with polished stone countertop surfaces, and more hardwood as the faces and cabinet doors below. Sitting on top of the counters were shining gold and pewter chalices, smooth and reflective knights' armor pieces, and crests with various royal emblems. There was a modern appliance, a refrigerator, with its doors themed to match the counters, sitting up against the wall near the corner. Andrew looked up to see more arched ceiling, with hardwood support beams in inverted 'T' shapes, with wrought iron chandeliers hanging from their intersections, casting a dim light that fell to the rest of the room below. Along the arched ceiling were windows, which exposed a starry, cloudless, and apparently moonless night sky. In the middle of the room sat a large mahogany table, with only two chairs, that sat opposite one another along the table's width.

Rebecca opened the door of the freezer section of the refrigerator, and pulled out a pale blue bag of ice, which she handed to Andrew. She then took a seat in one of the chairs. Andrew sat in the other, holding the bag of ice to the lump on the back of his head.

"So, where should we begin?" Andrew said, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Rebecca put her hands together on top of the table, interlocking her fingers, and replied, "Well, I suppose we'll start from your first question, then. You want to know why you're here." Andrew nodded, and Rebecca continued, "Well, it's because things are changing. You could call this a dream, somewhat; the only difference is that this is only like half a dream. Have you ever heard of the common saying, 'A dream come true?'" Andrew nodded again, his eyes widening at the hint of what his imminent future might contain.

"Andrew, did you ever think that the reality you're in might not be the only one? Sort of like a parallel universe or something?" Andrew again nodded, not bothering to say anything to disturb the flow of Rebecca's discussion. "Well, that's true. There are such things as other realities. Normally, you only experience these other realities when you're asleep. Your mind and body aren't fused together, unless the body is awake. However, when the body is asleep, the mind is free to go as it wishes, even across the bounds of these other realities, even though the body cannot."

"This happens every time your body sleeps, whether you know it or not. Sometimes, the mind decides to store some memories of some of the things that it has experienced in this other reality, and you can recall them after you've woken up. This is what everybody refers to as a dream. On rare occasions, your mind goes to parallel realities that are similar to yours, but further along in time. That's a premonition; but it may or may not be true, since the reality is different from yours."

"On rare occasions, the mind may split into two, sort of like the splitting of a cell, with each mind being exactly the same in all respects. Most times this occurs, however, the 'parent' mind returns to its rightful body, leaving the 'clone' mind to find a new reality to take root in. In rare circumstances, the 'parent' mind may decide to seek out a new reality, while the 'clone' mind returns to the 'parent' mind's body."

Mesmerized, Andrew took in each word that Rebecca spoke. When he realized that she had finished her small speech, he snapped out of his listening trance and furthered the discussion with some questions.

"So, what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, Andrew, that's the thing. All that I just explained has everything to do with the situation you're in now."

"What do you mean? Did my mind divide? Is my 'parent' mind going to seek out a new reality or something?"

"Exactly."

Andrew's mind went blank. He didn't know what to make of his situation. Everything he once knew was gone. His friends, his family, his life; it was all gone. Rebecca knew what Andrew was thinking about, given the obvious expression of utter confusion overly evident on his face.

"Andrew, there's nothing you need to be sad about. Yes, everything you once knew is nonexistent to you now, but when your mind 'resets' in its new reality, those things will be of no importance to you at all. This will all seem like a giant dream to you, if you remember anything at all."

"What about my family and friends? What will they think?"

"They won't be any the wiser. Your 'clone' mind has returned to your old body, and is exactly the same as your 'parent' mind, except that everything that happens in your old reality will be experienced by your 'clone' mind, while everything you're going through here and now is being experienced by your 'parent' mind."

Andrew had his arms folded up on the desk, and he leaned his head down, cushioning it on his folded arms. He needed some time to think things through, to understand what was going on, and how he would cope with it.

"Andrew, it's all right. There's no need to worry about anything. What you need to concern yourself with at the moment is your future."

Andrew raised his head just enough so that he could look at Rebecca sitting across the table, smiling cheerily. Andrew lowered his head back into his arms. After he had come to grips with his situation, Andrew sat up in his chair, though he kept himself propped up with his arms on the desk.

"Well, Andrew, it seems as though your mind has already chosen its destination. This makes the whole process go a lot faster, believe me."

"Even so, how are we going to get there, and what will become of me? Physical bodies can't traverse between realities, you said."

"True, I did say that they can't go between realities, but when a mind splits, whichever mind goes to a new reality must create a new body of its own to stay in."

"Well, is the new body just something random, or do I get to choose?"

"That's what makes this part so great! You'll be able to completely choose your appearance. But first, we'll need to change some things…"

Rebecca stood up from her seat, and pulled a small rectangular object from a pocket on the side of her suit. It appeared to be some sort of a small computer device, similar to a PDA. She used its attached stylus to poke various things on the screen of the PDA, but Andrew couldn't see what she was doing. "Ah, technology. All right, Andrew. I want you to see what things will look like in the reality you're going to, so you won't be terribly too overwhelmed," Rebecca said, holding the stylus a few inches from the screen of her PDA, and added, "You might want to shield your eyes for a second."

Andrew lowered his head into his arms on the table, completely blacking out everything. After a minute or so, Rebecca said, "Okay, Andrew, you can take a look now." Andrew moved his arms away and down to his sides, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly opened his eyes. His head was still leaning down, facing the tabletop. As Andrew's eyes began to process the appearance of the table, he thought to himself, "_Hmm… It looks like it was painted, like artwork or something._" As Andrew began to raise his head, he noticed the ice bag sitting on the table from when he had put it down while Rebecca was talking. "_What the…? It looks like it came from a cartoon or something._" Indeed, the ice bag was a solid shade of blue, with a pair of darker shades instead of a smooth shadow. The outside and overlapping sections had a thin, almost black outline. Andrew continued to raise his head, until he was looking forward, at Rebecca, who was again sitting in her chair.

Barely seconds after his brain received the image of Rebecca had Andrew known what was going on. "Anime," he muttered. Andrew was right, too. Rebecca herself was also in simple tones with harsh shade transitions, but she also had some sharp transitions to lighter shades as well, especially on her hair, which had a very noticeable highlight of near white where the light struck it most. Rebecca's form seemed to have changed as well; her face was shapelier and more pointed at the chin, her mouth wasn't as wide, and her eyes were large, colorful, and full of expression.

"That's right, Andrew. It all looks like what you call 'Anime'. However, now there's no reason to call it anything but 'normal'."

Andrew was quite shocked to have realized how different everything around him appeared. However, Andrew adjusted quickly, since he had been perfectly capable of envisioning things in that style, and it was the predominant style of drawing he used in his old reality. "Wow, this is… interesting!" Andrew said through a bit of a chuckle.

"Yeah, it's different from what you're used to, but I know how much you were into this particular artistic style; the reality that your mind chose to exist in looks just like this… It was no coincidence, either."

"No coincidence, eh?"

"None whatsoever. Anyway, you need to make up your mind about what you want to look like. Your mind didn't have any predetermined appearance ready, so you'll need to create one."

Rebecca stood back up, and again prodded the screen of her PDA with the stylus. A few seconds later, a bright white light shone from behind Andrew, and he turned around to see something casting the light, and it appeared to be taking form. When the light subsided, a huge mirror had appeared in the back of the room, framed in spectacular gold.

"This is where you'll be able to choose the appearance of your new body." Rebecca said, holding her right hand out towards the mirror. "Currently, if you'll notice, you have no visible body. While yes, you technically still do have a body; it isn't visible to anyone but me and yourself."

Andrew stood up from his seat and stepped over to the gigantic mirror. As he looked into the mirror, he saw no reflection of himself. He turned around and asked Rebecca, "Uh, how do I do this now?" Rebecca smiled and walked next to Andrew, explaining, "All you have to do is look into the mirror and think about what you want to look like, it's that simple." Andrew nodded to Rebecca, and turned back to the mirror, with a general idea for an appearance already taking form in the back of his head. He was going to base his new appearance off a drawing of who he wanted to be. After all, he was finally getting the chance to be who he wanted to be and look like how he wanted to look.

As the details of his new appearance solidified in his mind, he saw them taking shape in the mirror. Shapeless blobs became boots, the more intricate details forming from simple crease lines into complicated folds and strings. He gazed into his reflection's eyes and gave himself a strong smirk of complacency as he stepped back to once again look over his new reflection.

Andrew's reflection showed him as being much thinner than he had been in his past reality, and his mirrored duplicate met his old self's height exactly, standing at a proud 6 foot 3 inches. His hair had the usual anime messiness to it, brown and poking out in short, curvy spikes. Andrew continued to examine down his reflection. The mirror image's eyes were a dark and somewhat pale teal or blue-green color. The skin on his face was pale, but still maintained a tan, fleshy hue. Wrapped around his neck and all the way down his body was a thick trench coat. It was a slightly richer color than his eyes. The collar of the trench coat was stiff inside, and rose to be less than an inch below the tops of his earlobes. The bottom of the trench coat reached all the way down to near his ankles. The trench coat was open, revealing an army-green plain shirt. His shirt was tucked beneath a pair of baggy blue jeans, held up by a thick and sturdy belt, with a shining gold military-style buckle. His boots were thick and red-brown in color.

Andrew looked down at himself. Already he was using his new body; he hadn't even noticed the change. He shifted around to get a feel for the trench coat, and the shirt and jeans underneath. He bent down and pressed on the toe of his boot. The boot's toe didn't give at all; this was a dead giveaway to Andrew that his boots had steel-lined toes. The heel didn't mash in at all either, signifying that the heel, too, was lined with steel inside. Andrew took a few steps around. Even though his boots seemed as though they would weigh a ton each with all that steel in them, the boots—to Andrew's surprise—turned out to be relatively light; he barely even knew he was wearing shoes at all.

Andrew whipped around to face Rebecca, and confidently holding his right hand up in a fist, he exclaimed, "I like it! Couldn't be more pleased, I'm sure of it!" Rebecca smiled, and pulled her PDA from her pocket a third time, saying, "That's great to hear! Alright, that ends our adventure here. Now, Andrew, its time for you to get going to your new reality, where your new body will be more than just an image." She tapped the PDA screen a few more times with the stylus, and instructed Andrew to turn to face the mirror again. The mirror, however, no longer reflected the image of Andrew, Rebecca, and the room they were in. Now, it shone only a bright white, the same as the screen of Andrew's monitor had before he was pulled through it.

"_Portals…_" Andrew thought as he looked at the white void, still framed in the solid gold of the mirror. "There's just something you should remember before you go, Andrew." Andrew turned back to face Rebecca again. "Something to remember," Andrew asked, "Such as what?"

"Well, Andrew, the biggest thing to remember is that you're going to have a past in this new reality. People will talk of things that have happened to you, and start off with things that you acquired in the past."

"Well, that's understandable," Andrew replied, "Since I don't want to start from the beginning again. More solid from the start, but I want to just get right into it."H

"While yes, you will get right into it, everything is going to revert to 'normal' after the first night there. This would have happened, no matter what. It would be just too confusing for you if you didn't actually know about those past things that have happened to you. Your mind already knew that this would happen, and elected to have it proceed this way. Some people, however, prefer to keep their old memories, and keep their new reality's past as unknown. That's why you hear about cases of Amnesia and Dissociative Fugue. People just choose to ignore their new pasts, selfishly clinging to their old memories, and regarded as insane for it. It's sad to see, really. But you're different; you want to face a new life with your arms open, ready to put an unimportant history behind you, and embrace your presence in a new reality."

"Wow… That's… deep," Andrew said, "Anything else I should keep in mind?"

"No, that's about it for now. More will be revealed to you as your first day goes on. Oh, I did forget to mention this: everybody in the new reality is going to know what you're going through, with all this adjustment and all. They'll know that you don't know about your past yet, and you probably won't know much about what's going on. They'll try to give you as much help as they can for the first day. After your memories revert to 'normal' the first night, everybody else will be normal, just as they should. So will you."

"All right," Andrew said.

"Good. Then off to the new reality it is, then," Rebecca said, smiling, "Just walk through the portal." Andrew turned back to face the portal, still illuminating the room in its bright white light. Andrew's heart began to beat faster and faster in anticipation, and he couldn't keep himself from leaping straight into the portal. As his feet left the ground, Andrew could have sworn he heard Rebecca say to him, "I'll see you there."

However, that didn't matter much to him now, for as his head passed through the surface of the mirror portal, again everything fell to white. He stood on his feet, and waited. Suddenly, a terrible pain overcame his entire body, and he fell to his knees. The pain continued for several seconds. It was a sensation as though every fiber of his muscles and every inch of his skin were being stretched. The pain subsided, and Andrew raised his head.


	2. Another Way to Define Real

**Chapter 2: Another Way to Define Real**

Whiteness. There was nothing but the bright white fog surrounding Andrew now, as his body was still stinging all over from the sudden pain moments ago. Andrew stood to his feet, and flexed his arm. As his arm moved, the stinging subsided to a tingling sensation, and eventually faded away completely. Andrew flexed the rest of his body, until all traces of his discomfort had eased away.

Andrew attempted to walk forward, but found he was unable to take any steps in any direction, though he was able to move. Slowly, objects around him faded into view. As before, after a point, the white fog vanished completely, leaving Andrew standing in the corner of a furnished room.

Looking around him, Andrew took note of the appearance of the room. The room was of a decent size, and its walls and ceiling were painted in a pale slate blue color. The molding around the wall at the floor and the carpet itself was a lighter shade of the wall's color. There were several pieces of wooden furniture, and the wood was stained to a rich golden-brown color. The room itself, being themed primarily in cool colors, made Andrew feel calmer and made the room's temperature seem lower than it actually was. Andrew took a deep breath of the air. It was fresh, cool, and clean; a huge change from the environment that he used to live in, that always carried a faint amount of pollution, no thanks to a major highway that ran nearby.

Andrew stepped into the middle of the room and looked back to the spot he was just standing at. A door was behind where he had been standing before, a light dimmer knob on the left side of it. Turning to the left, Andrew looked over all the objects in the room. There was a rubber doorknob stop on the wall, in the same color as the wall. About two feet from the doorknob stop was a sofa, with three cushions. It was colored in a slightly darker shade of the pale slate blue of the walls. Continuing to turn counterclockwise, Andrew observed a small wooden end table next to the sofa, and the foot of a bed a short distance away from the end table. The bed itself seemed about eight feet long, longer than most conventional beds in his old reality. The blanket on the bed was the same color as the sofa. The underside of the blanket was visible as it was folded over on the head end of the bed. The blanket's underside, the pillow, and the fitted sheet of the bed all carried the same color as the carpet. The head of the bed was nestled in the corner of the room.

Continuing down the wall opposite the door, Andrew saw a wooden bedside table, which had a small black clock on top of it. The bedside table sat up against a larger wooden dresser. The dresser had three rows of two drawers each, each drawer having a shiny golden knob. On top of the dresser was a large black stereo system, with large speakers on each side of it. In front of the stereo sat small glass bottles of what was most likely cologne. Sitting on the floor next to the dresser was a CD rack, full of various albums. The only other thing along the wall was another door, thinner than the first.

The next wall sloped down at an approximate 45-degree angle, stopping about three and a half feet from the floor. Breaking up the angled wall were two alcoves, sinking in about a foot, with windows at the back. In front of the windows were single shelves, each about two feet from the floor, and made of wood. Below those shelves were small spaces, where various books were kept. On top of the shelves were various potted plants, soaking up the sun's rays. In between the two windows was a two-foot high platform, with a large black television sitting on top, and a space beneath where various audio/visual devices sat.

Along the room's final wall was a large wooden desk that had a tall cabinet structure at the end nearest the door, and a dark slate and silver office chair sitting in front of it. Attached to the cabinet was the desk top itself, that started at a curve, that led to a thinner section ending nearest the sloped wall. On top of the curved section was a large silver laptop, which was shut. The empty legroom underneath the desk continued around to the thinner section, and almost the entire way to the end of the desk, where it was supported at the end by two drawers, one of which was apparently designed as a file cabinet. On top of the thin section were a small lamp and a small wooden object, with a holder for sticky notes, and two writing utensils. There also sat a wooden rack, filled with two rows of colored pencils, the back row being elevated. The cabinet itself had two doors on the bottom, and three shelves on top, in which books were stacked. The cabinet section of the desk seemed about 6 or so feet high.

Andrew figured that the door he had been standing in front of led to the rest of wherever he was at, so he decided to look in the door nearest the dresser. When he opened the door, he found the room to be dark, so he instinctively searched along the wall to his right, and found two light switches. He turned them both on, and the area filled with light. Andrew's suspicions were correct—it was a walk-in closet, and a large one at that. Examining the closet, he found that the back wall had a large mirror on it.

Andrew stopped to look at himself, only to realize that hadn't been wearing a single thread of clothing! Blushing, he dashed back over to the dresser, and began hastily searching through its drawers, until he came across a pair of gray boxer-briefs, immediately putting them on. Breathing a sigh of relief that he was at least somewhat decent, he searched through the rest of the drawers, taking note of what garments were where. He took out a matching gray undershirt, and put it on. He also took out an army-green shirt, blue jeans and belt, and a pair of socks, tossing them all onto his bed. After he had put his clothes on, he wondered where his trench coat was. He stepped back into the closet to see it hanging alongside various other coats and more formal clothing. He pulled it out and put it on, and looked back at the mirror. It was showing the same thing as he had envisioned back in that room with Rebecca. He smiled, and looked down to the floor to search for his boots.

Unable to find his boots in the closet, Andrew turned off the lights and exited his closet. Taking another step inside the room, his foot landed at the wrong angle, sending Andrew onto a one-way trip straight to the floor. Landing with a loud and dull thud, he climbed back up to his feet, and looked at the spot where he tripped, thinking, "w_hat in the world did I just trip over? There's nothing there!_"

As Andrew continued to search the room for his boots, there came a knocking upon the larger door to his bedroom. "Andrew, are you decent in there?" a voice from the other side called. Andrew knew who that voice belonged to, and responded, "Yeah, I'm dressed; you can come in." The door opened, and Rebecca stepped into the room, wearing a casual housedress. "What are you doing here?" Andrew asked, somewhat surprised, "I thought you would have stayed behind."

"I had to come along with you."

"Why is that?"

"Because, Andrew—I'm here to be your mother in this reality."

Rebecca's statement was more than unexpected to Andrew. He hadn't really thought about what his family would be like in this reality. "You're going to be… my mother?" Andrew asked, making sure he hadn't been hearing things. "Yes, that's right. I am going to be your mother here," Rebecca confirmed. Andrew took a deep breath, sat down on the floor where he was standing, and let Rebecca's words sink in. After a while, he looked back up at Rebecca, who had taken a seat on Andrew's sofa, and nodded. He then got back up onto his feet.

Rebecca stood up as well, saying, "Alright, then. Let me show you around the house." She walked out of the room, Andrew following behind, falling flat upon his face again as he was about to exit the room. As he got back to his feet, Andrew muttered to himself, "Why the heck do I keep falling over like this?" Rebecca heard him, and responded, "It's because of your legs. They're longer than you're used to. That'll change tomorrow, when your mind finishes its integration in this reality."

After Andrew was back on his feet, he looked out of his door, and saw a long path extending forward. When he stepped out onto it, he looked up at the expansive ceiling, with its wooden support beams purposely exposed. Around him, he saw hints of a room beneath him, and looked over the edge of the path. He was standing on a bridge over the floor below! The bridge split halfway and took a turn to the left, leading to another room. Rebecca explained that the room on the path's split was a guest room, but she added, "While, yes, it may be a guest room, it's actually used quite often by a single person." Andrew didn't think much of Rebecca's addendum, and proceeded across the rest of the bridge with Rebecca. At the end of the bridge was a staircase to the right, which led to the lower floor, a door in front of Andrew, and a turn to the left, which led to two more doors. Rebecca pointed out that the bathroom was behind the door in front of Andrew, an office was next down the path, and Rebecca's room at the end. Rebecca started heading down the stairs before Andrew took a look at any of the other rooms.

When Rebecca led Andrew downstairs, Andrew had to hold the handrail to keep from plunging down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Rebecca turned and showed Andrew the living room. Andrew loved the openness of the room, and two gigantic windows accentuated the already airy room. As Andrew walked past a large white sofa, a small, round, and pale blue creature jumped up on top of the back of it. It had no arms, a pair of small budlike feet, and what seemed like leaves on top of its head. Andrew looked at it and recognized it. When the realization of what it was finally registered in his brain, he lunged back in sheer surprise, tripping over a low coffee table, and falling onto hard tile floor. He crawled away from it, his face ghostly white, and his eyes wide and dilated. "Wh… What the hell is that?!" was all Andrew was able to muster out of his surprise, his heart pounding harder than the pistons in a car engine.

Rebecca hadn't taken any surprise to the appearance of the small creature. However, she was surprised with Andrew's reaction to it, commenting, "Andrew, what's wrong?" Andrew flung a shaking finger in the creature's direction, blurting out, "That!" Rebecca looked down at the creature, which looked back and jumped in place cheerily, apparently oblivious to what was going on. She looked back to Andrew, and said, "I'm surprised you haven't guessed where you're at yet. Just calm down and think about it; this reality is different than your old one, remember? Trust me on this one; it is what you know it is."

Andrew took a deep breath and stood up, his heart rate still higher than normal. He approached the creature cautiously, and picked it up in both hands. Its body felt smooth and waxy, like a plant. He took another deep breath, and his pace began to increase yet again. However, this time, his heart was beating fast from excitement, rather than from a sense of dread and uncertainty. "Yeah, this is a different reality," Andrew said calmly, then he tightened his throat to keep himself from yelling outright, "And I chose to be in it!"

Rebecca let out a chuckle, and told Andrew, "Well, you don't have to tell the world; they already know." Andrew allowed the creature to jump onto his shoulder, and proclaimed, "Here I am, in a completely different reality. I never thought I'd be here, I never even thought this kind of thing—multiple realities and all that—would have even been more than complete and utter speculation. Nevertheless, here I stand, in utter disbelief, regardless of the truth. I've only dreamt that I would be in such a situation. I stand here, with a different body and a different perspective on life." Andrew looked up to the creature on his shoulder, and continued, "The only reason that I have a different perspective is because of this; this Pokémon, an Oddish, to be exact, standing here on my shoulder. Subsequently, I'm sure I'm going to have a lot more perspective changes in the near future. Although I haven't a clue as to what the future holds for me as of yet, I'm ready to face it, and I'm sure I'm going to love every minute of it!" Andrew looked back to Rebecca, who had started clapping, saying, "Well put, Andrew! And here I was, thinking that you weren't really the type to say more than a few words at a time! It's good to see that you're happy about being here."

Rebecca turned around and motioned for Andrew to follow her as she continued the guided tour of the expansive house. The Oddish on Andrew's shoulder jumped off onto the sofa as Andrew passed by it. After Rebecca finished guiding Andrew through the kitchen and dining room on the lower floor, she led him into a huge room at the back of the house. It was surrounded more by glass than by actual wall, and offered a grand view—the edge of a forest, leading into rolling hills, ending with a breathtaking view of a snow-capped mountain. To Andrew, the term 'breathtaking' was applied quite literally, as he was in such awe of the view that he forgot to breathe, and wound up gasping for breath when he realized that he hadn't been breathing. Rebecca chuckled at this as she headed back into the living room.

Andrew, however, stayed to observe the room itself, since his eyes darted immediately to the landscape outside when he entered the room. The floor was covered in white tile, and there were three degradations towards the far side of the room, where in the lowest section there sat a white metal wire table, surrounded by four white metal wire chairs. Alongside the steps down to the lower areas were two raised islands, with a dirt center, where various plants of many sizes and colors grew. On the second level of the room, there sat a white elbowed sofa, and a wooden coffee table. At the end of the room, there was a pair of large glass doors that led to the outside. Andrew proceeded down to the lowest level, and turned back to look at the house. The back wall of the room was wooden, and he could see brick-trimmed windows higher up on the walls, where the kitchen and dining room were located. Above the sloped glass ceiling, Andrew could see that the wall continued upward, and met the black-shingled roof. There was a large protrusion from the roof at the center of the wall. This protrusion had a pair of windows on it, and the ceiling sloped to meet the apex of the rest of the roof. Andrew knew that the protrusion was because of the guest room.

Andrew headed back into the living room, and sat down on the couch, next to Rebecca, who had been sitting and waiting for him, reading a newspaper to pass the time. She folded the newspaper and placed it on the coffee table, and asked Andrew, "So, did you like the view out there?" Andrew excitedly nodded his head, saying, "Yeah, that view was simply amazing!" Rebecca commented, "I had a feeling that's what you were thinking, given the fact that you forgot to even breathe." "Yeah, yeah… I know…" Andrew replied, shrugging shyly. "Well, I'm sure that you're going to want to take a look outside now, so feel free." Rebecca said, as Andrew lowered his hand from behind his head.

Andrew stood up, and walked towards the front door, when he unexpectedly stepped into a recessed area, lost his balance, and ate the hard concrete floor of the recess. Nurturing his chin, Andrew got back to his feet, and looked at the floor, only to realize that he hadn't been wearing his boots. He was about to turn and ask Rebecca about his boots, but he saw them sitting on a shelf near the door, alongside a plain bench. On the shelf above his boots, there were several pairs of slippers, and pairs of flip-flops on the shelf below. "_Ah, I see what's going on here…_" Andrew thought as he sat down on the bench and reached for his boots, "_It's sort of like the Japanese tradition of taking your shoes off in houses and certain public places._"

Andrew tied his boots and proceeded outside. He looked around and took in his surroundings. To his left, a paved path continued around to the side of the house, where Andrew could make out what seemed to be a driveway. The driveway arched over a small stream, which ran to Andrew's left and in front of him, propelled by a small waterfall from an embankment to Andrew's right. The embankment continued underneath the house, providing some support for underneath Andrew's bedroom. The house, however, seemed to pass unimpeded through the hill, to make the transition between lower and upper floor seamless from the outside. The house itself seemed even larger on the outside than it did inside. The walls were covered in finished and stained wood, arranged in continuous horizontal planks. Climbing up the wooden walls were several Ivy vines. Andrew walked over to the stream, and looked into it. The water was clear and moved swiftly; Andrew could see small fish swimming downstream.

Andrew turned around to examine the driveway, when he noticed Rebecca standing in front of the door, which was left open. He walked over to her, and asked, "I don't quite get it. Why are there normal fish swimming around in that stream?" Rebecca closed the door, and turned back to Andrew, responding, "Because, Andrew… Not every living thing in this reality is going to be either a human or a Pokémon. There are other types of living things here." "Oh," Andrew said, as Rebecca reached into a pocket on the side of her dress, saying, "Speaking of Pokémon…" From the pocket, Rebecca drew four red and white spheres, each approximately the size of golf balls. She handed the four balls to Andrew, who looked at them in his hands, saying, "Pokéballs. How predictable. What all is in them?" Rebecca held her hands behind her back, proclaiming, "Why don't you see for yourself?"

Andrew threw all four golf ball-sized Pokéballs into the air, and they landed in the grass with a rustle and a dull thud. Andrew waited for something to happen, but nothing did; he turned to Rebecca, and said, "Uhh… Nothing's happening." Rebecca gave a sigh, and told Andrew, "You have to enlarge them first, by pressing the little button on the front, and then throw them." "Oh, silly me; I should have known that…" Andrew said nervously as he picked up the four dormant Pokéballs. He pressed the button on each, enlarging them to the size of softballs, and then threw all four at once again. They each bounced along the ground once, and opened, as if on cue. In a flash of bright white light, four figures of various shapes and sizes appeared in front of Andrew, as his eyes widened in wonderment.

The white light gave way to reveal four different Pokémon. Each was remarkably different in their size, bulkiness, and shape. Andrew was impressed with the four Pokémon standing in front of him, but knew something was wrong, exclaiming, "They're not colored normally." Indeed, the four Pokémon standing in front of him were very rare. Instead of their normal colors, they took on completely different color schemes. Standing in front of Andrew were a Charizard, Gardevoir, Starmie, and his favorite, his omnipotent Nidoking.

Charizard was a classic image of a dragon, with a raging flame at the tip of its tail, and large, proud wings. Normally, though, Charizard were colored predominantly with a red-orange skin tone, and a blue hue on the insides of its wings. This Charizard's skin was the color of volcanic ash, and the insides of its wings a royal red color, but its underbelly still retained a creamy tan color. It was taller than an average Charizard, which stands at 7 foot 7 inches, whereas this one stood at 8 foot 3 inches.

Gardevoir appears as a feminine form, mostly a silvery white color, with green masses resembling hair and arms. There is an orange horn that points upwards in the lower middle of its chest. Its lower body takes the appearance of a dress flowing in the wind, and is split in the front. The inside of this portion of its body is in the same green color as its arms and the top of its head, and its legs—which are also green—are hidden behind this cover. Most Gardevoir are about 4 feet tall. Andrew's Gardevoir stood at 5 feet tall, with icy blue and lavender-white colors, instead of green and silver-white. Its horn was also a paler shade of orange than usual.

Starmie is one of the more interestingly shaped Pokémon, resembling a pair of 5-point stars superimposed over one another. They are a little over 3-and-a-half feet in length, and are purple in color. They also have a shimmering octagonal gem that shines in one of 7 different colors, depending on how the light hits it, though it is predominantly a red color. Surrounding the gem is a golden cover, with 8 points geometrically radiating outward. Starmie also have the unique ability to defy gravity. This rare Starmie was instead an aqua blue color, with a lustrous blue gem. Instead of gold, the piece surrounding the gem was a shining red color. This Starmie was also about 4 feet in length.

Nidoking are an immensely powerful type of Pokémon, possessing strength capabilities far beyond other Pokémon of its size. It is about 4-and-a-half feet tall at first, but as with almost all Pokémon, it grows in size as it gets stronger, usually reaching about 5 or 6 feet maximum. Its body is covered in hard armor-like plates and hardened spikes, which are a light purple color, and its front abdominal section is a gray color. Its spikes are said to be so hard, they can pierce diamonds; they also secrete highly venomous poison. Its tail is also one of its strongest assets, being capable of seriously damaging any that are unlucky enough to be caught by it. A rare type of Nidoking is blue in color, and slightly larger than normal Nidoking. Andrew possessed a type of Nidoking so rare, that he astounded everybody just by owning the only recorded case of such a Nidoking. It towered over normal Nidoking, reaching almost 7 feet 9 inches in height. Its poison is recorded to be so toxic that it will affect Pokémon types that are normally immune to poison. Its hide is stiff and appears like granite, with little sparkling flecks all throughout, and smoothened similar to the rocks you find in rivers.

Andrew revered the awesomeness of his Pokémon, and decided that it would be good to test out their performance. He ordered his Nidoking to step up. The Nidoking obeyed, and walked next to Andrew, shaking the ground slightly as it did so. "_This is too amazing!_" Andrew thought as he watched the Nidoking walking towards him. He threw a point forward, calling, "Nidoking, Water Gun!"

Andrew's granite Nidoking leaned back, preparing to attack, when Rebecca shouted "Wait!" from behind them. Both Andrew and Nidoking turned around and looked at her quizzically. "I wouldn't do that here; Your Pokémon's attacks are so strong they might destroy more than what's in front of them. I'd suggest going to your training field to do this kind of stuff. I'll show you the way." Andrew nodded, but his Pokémon had already started charging towards the driveway, for they apparently already knew the way. Charizard had been waiting for Andrew, ready for him to climb onto its back. Andrew did so, and when Charizard took off, Andrew shouted back to Rebecca, "That won't be necessary! I'll be back when I'm done!"

As the black Charizard flew over the treetops towards Andrew's training area, Andrew looked around, taken aback by the view. To his right, he saw more forest patches, and the start of civilization; a city many miles away. Left of Andrew was the fields and mountain range that was visible from the back of Andrew's house. After a few minutes, Charizard landed in the middle of a big opening. Seconds later, Nidoking came charging down a path leading away, with Gardevoir on its back, and Starmie trailing to its left. They stopped, and Andrew called Nidoking back to his side, ready to proceed with the performance test.

"All right, Nidoking, for real this time—Water Gun!" Andrew commanded. Nidoking again leaned back, breathed in and flung forward, sending out an almost solid column of water straight into the trees. Granted, the water didn't stop there; instead, it forced its way through tree after tree, toppling some over, and sent one flying into the air, landing on the other side of the training area, behind Andrew. When Nidoking's attack ceased, Andrew looked down the path of soaked and destroyed trees that it created, and his face paled when he saw the result. He wasn't even able to see the end of the path, for it had punched clear through to the other end of the patch of trees, leaving a view of the mountain range through it. Andrew stuttered as he said, "G…Good j-job, Nidoking…"

Andrew shook off his surprise, and ordered a Flamethrower attack from Nidoking, but ordered it into the air, so it wouldn't wind up starting a forest fire. When Nidoking launched the attack, Andrew wasn't sure if he was watching a flamethrower of a volcanic eruption. The attack ended, and a huge plume of thin smoke rose from the burnt compounds in the air. The Thunderbolt attack Andrew ordered next wasn't much different, though it did leave a sizeable crater at the attack point. Chuckling nervously, Andrew told Nidoking that it was done with the test for the day. He turned to Gardevoir, and proceeded with ordering attacks.

Several minutes later, he finished ordering attacks to all his Pokémon, and decided it was time to go back home. Andrew climbed on Charizard's back, while Nidoking, with Gardevoir on its back, and Starmie took off back towards the house. When they all arrived, Andrew told them they could relax for a while. Nidoking lied up against the embankment, Starmie jumped into the stream, Gardevoir teleported up into a tree, and Charizard fell asleep. Andrew went inside the house and told Rebecca that he was back. She put her newspaper down, and walked over to the door, slipping her shoes on as she passed the door. She and Andrew both proceeded outside, and Rebecca asked, "So, were you impressed with their performance?" Andrew gave a small laugh, and replied, "If you want to put it lightly, yeah." Rebecca gave a satisfied chuckle, saying, "I had a feeling you'd be impressed. So, have you gotten used to your new body yet?"

Andrew put a finger to his chin in thought, and realized that the concept of testing his own abilities hadn't crossed his mind even once. "Nope, can't say I've gotten completely used to it yet," Andrew said. He crouched down and jumped as high as he could. He soared high over the treetops, being able to see the city he saw earlier while he was flying on Charizard's back. Then, gravity took hold of him, and he began to fall. Andrew instinctively tried to keep himself from falling, but it was pointless. Ever faster nearing the ground, Andrew realized, "_If I can jump this high, I can land from this high._" He oriented himself with his arms akimbo straight up in the air, and his legs pointed straight down. His right foot hit the ground first, and he quickly tensed his leg muscles to slow his descent, finishing in a crouching position, with his arms down, fists resting on the grass.

When he tried to stand back up, his feet wouldn't pull up and wound up making Andrew lose his balance, and fall over onto his back. His feet, however, were still in their spot, sunken more than two inches beneath the surface of the ground. Andrew pulled his leg up as hard as he could, until he felt the ground release his trapped foot. He repeated the procedure with the other leg. After getting up to his feet, he brushed off the back of his trench coat, then turned to Rebecca and said, "Well, that was… interesting…" Rebecca nodded in agreement. Andrew then remembered the city he saw, and asked, "While I was up there, I noticed a city or something in the distance." "Ah," Rebecca nodded while saying, "I know what you're talking about. Yeah, Cerulean is some distance from here."

Andrew's ears perked at the mention of Cerulean, and his eyes grew wide. "Cerulean… You mean Cerulean… City? Like, _the_ Cerulean City?" Rebecca muttered an agreement while again nodding. Andrew's anticipation at that point couldn't be stopped, and he quickly blurted, "I'll see you later, then!" and turned to run down the driveway. "Andrew, wait for a second!" Rebecca said, but Andrew ignored her, and stepped off into a run down the driveway, moving at incredible speed. However, his foot landed in the wrong place and sent him flying forward. When he landed, he skidded, flipped back into the air, flopped on the ground again, and rolled, finally stopping by ramming into a tree, while he was still speeding far faster than even the fastest runners.

Andrew lied on his back, eyes crossed, and feeling dizzy. Down his back, arms, and abdomen he could feel a searing pain. He heard footsteps and turned his head to see a blurry double-image of Rebecca running up to him. Sarcastically, he muttered to her, "That… kinda hurt… just a bit." He sat up, grunting and clenching his face in pain. He took his trench coat off and lifted his shirt. While his clothes appeared as though not a thread had been damaged, the surface of his skin looks as though it had just had a bad encounter with a belt sander, all red and with small cuts all over. The brush burns covered almost his entire abdomen and the whole way up his arms, to his shoulders. "Ooh, that's some really nasty brush burn you've got there… Let's get back to the house; there's some isopropyl alcohol in there that you can use."

Andrew got up to his feet, and he and Rebecca walked back to the house, which Andrew had put almost a quarter mile away in the thirty seconds or so had been running. As they walked back, Rebecca told Andrew, "You really should try to exert some control over how fast you run."

"Yeah, you do have a point; but I was so excited when you said that distant city was Cerulean. I couldn't help myself from trying to get there as fast as possible."

"I know, but you would have had to do a lot of waiting for what you wanted anyway. The Pokémon Gym there doesn't open for another half hour; it's only seven thirty."

"Oh. Say, why was I able to run so fast, anyway?"

"It's because of your body. It's so new that your muscles are on some serious overdrive… Good thing that your body is going to heal really quickly. Oh, also, you'll notice that your endurance will be through the roof as well. My body is new as well, which explains how I was able to run up to you so easily from a quarter mile away at the speed I was running, as well."

"I never took notice."

They reached the house, and went inside, taking their shoes off on the way in. Andrew sat down on the couch, further examining the damage his sudden fall had done to him. Rebecca approached him, setting a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and a few cotton balls on the low table in front of the couch, saying, "Here… Use these to clean off that brush burn." Andrew picked up the bottle and cotton balls, saying, "I've always hated rubbing alcohol."

Rebecca had taken a seat on a smaller sofa across from the one Andrew was sitting on. She responded to Andrew by saying, "Well, if you can't keep your balance, you'd better get used to it quick." Andrew opened the bottle, and put a cotton swab to the mouth of the bottle. He quickly flipped the bottle, and then flipped it back, wetting the cotton swab with the alcohol. As he applied the alcohol-soaked ball to his scrapes, he grunted, and then said, "Aah, even with a new body, it still never fails to sting… Oh well…"

Rebecca leaned back on the couch, picking up the newspaper she left sitting on the couch next to her, and began reading it. Andrew, however, continued to apply the isopropyl alcohol on all of the brush burns on his abdomen, chest, and arms. After he finished applying the alcohol, he capped the bottle, and set the used cotton balls off to the side of the table, where he noticed a section of the newspaper. On the newspaper was a small article titled, "An interview with Andrew Masako" Curious to see what information the newspaper had about him, Andrew picked up the newspaper and began reading the article.

Marie Gavada

The Pokémon Times has interviewed all of the big names in Pokémon, including the prestigious Professor Oak of Pallet Town. This month, we chose to interview the winner of last year's Pokémon League, a trainer by the name of Andrew Masako. While the Pokémon Times does not normally interview trainers independently, Andrew's impressive and flawless win, combined with the capture of a never-before seen species of Nidoking and several other unique Pokémon has prompted us to interview him.

Marie Gavada: So, Andrew, I'd like to begin by asking you a few questions about the Indigo League, and your training style. First off, what would you say is the key element in your record-setting victory in the Indigo League?

Andrew Masako: Well Marie, I would have to say that my Pokémon are more than key to my success at the competition, since, after all, I can't just charge onto the field with my bare hands, now can I?

Gavada: You have a point there, Andrew. So, when you do train, what is your primary focus?

Masako: I'm not a very big fan of focusing on the development of particular strengths or abilities of my Pokémon. Rather, I prefer to focus on their weaknesses instead. For example, I have given my Pokémon extensive training in defending against attacks from dominant types. That way, it allows my Pokémon to endure much more battling than many. Also, I teach my Pokémon attacks outside of their type. Granted, the attacks may not be as strong as if that type of Pokémon were using them, but I persist in honing their skills so that this drawback is overcome.

Gavada: Very interesting. What about your relationships with others? I hear that there are plenty of girls out there that would just love to get to know you better, if you know what I mean.

Masako: Well, I'd have to say sorry out there to all the ladies, but I'm not out and looking right now.

Gavada: Really now?

Masako: Yeah, I've been too busy with my training to think about relationships.

Gavada: Steadfast determination, I see. So, since the League competition is over, what have you been doing?

Masako: Well, mostly I've been keeping to a rather strict schedule of training, but I do plan to take some time off of that in the near future.

Gavada: Do you have any plans on competing in the League again?

Masako: Chances are, not this year; though don't quote me on that. If anything, I'll work towards defeating the Elite Four.

Gavada: Are you sure that you're up to the challenge? After all, there hasn't been a single trainer that has defeated all four of the Elites.

Masako: I'm fairly confident of my abilities. After all, there hasn't been a single trainer who had a flawless victory through the entire history of the Pokémon League, either, now has there?

Gavada: I suppose. Well, that concludes our time together, Andrew. It was a pleasure interviewing you, and letting all your fans learn a little more about you.

Masako: Hey, it was a pleasure being interviewed, and I have two things to say to all of my fans out there. If anybody wishes to challenge me, or get some pointers on training, feel free to visit me sometime. Also, just remember: It's not about winning or losing; it's about the journey and the lessons you've learned along the way that count more than anything.

Andrew placed the paper back down on the coffee table, and looked at the front page of the newspaper that Rebecca was reading. He gasped at the date that was printed on the newspaper. "It's twenty-two fifty-four?! Rebecca glanced at the date on the newspaper, and said calmly, "Yes, it is. It may be a different time period, but this is a different reality, so don't get too excited. Many things resemble the two thousand and four that you came from." Andrew buried his face in his hands, and shook it back and forth slowly. "Everything is different. Everything," he said through his hands.

Andrew sat there with his face in his hands for some time, until he came to the conclusion that practically nothing was the same. When he was clamed down, he removed his face from his hands, and looked up at the clock. "Wow, seven fifty already!" Andrew said, "Time sure can pass fast sometimes. I suppose I'll be heading out for the Gym, now." Rebecca lowered her paper, and told Andrew, "Just keep in mind that not everything is going to be the same as you think it might be." Andrew looked at her, confused, and replied, "What do you mean?"

"Well, for example, the Cerulean Gym possesses far more water-type Pokémon than would be your first guess."

"Hey, just so long as most things stay familiar, I'm fine with it."

"Okay, then. Take care, Andrew!"

As Andrew finished tying his boots, he opened the door, said, "See ya!", and left. His Pokémon were still lounging around, Gardevoir in the tree, Charizard in the middle of the yard, Starmie floating on the surface of the stream, and Nidoking in front of the embankment. They all seemed to have fallen asleep, all except for Nidoking, who was apparently in some sort of meditating state. When he closed the door, Nidoking opened his eyes and stood onto his feet. He walked over to the tree that Gardevoir was sleeping in, and gently bumped it with his tail. Gardevoir woke up, and floated down next to the stream, waking up Starmie, while Nidoking walked over and woke up Charizard. Andrew told them that he was going to get going, and picked up the four Pokéballs lying in the middle of the yard, summoning each Pokémon back into its respective ball.

Andrew walked back over to the driveway, readied himself, and shot off like a bullet down the long paved path. As he ran, he devoted extra concentration into making sure he didn't slip and fall again. Within about two minutes, Andrew had reached the edge of the forest, and continued through a long stretch of hills, disturbed only by the road in which he was running along and a few patches of trees. Shortly thereafter, he reached the edge of Cerulean City. He noticed a small station for passing trainers, offering free maps of the city, with the locations of the Gym and Pokémon Center highlighted.

Andrew proceeded straight down the road, into the heart of the city, where small single-family homes began to change over to small apartment buildings and small businesses. Cerulean wasn't home to any large businesses with high buildings; in fact, the highest building Andrew passed was a city bank, located right across from the police station, a rather logical place to have it indeed. He reached the edge of a park, and upon checking the map, learned that it was known as Hanada Park. Andrew also noticed that the Gym was located near the southernmost point of the park, with the north end leading to what came to be known as Nugget Bridge. He proceeded south along a walking and cycling path, until he saw the façade of the ever-familiar Cerulean Gym.

As Andrew approached, he looked at the double sliding glass doors at the entrance to the Gym, and took a deep breath. Stepping forward, he stopped to read a sign he had just noticed that was posted near the entrance.

**CERULEAN GYM – BADGE: CASCADE**

**OFFICIAL LEADERS:**

**DAISY WATERFLOWER**

**VIOLET WATERFLOWER**

**LILY WATERFLOWER**

**MISTY WATERFLOWER**

"**THE SENSATIONAL CERULEAN SISTERS"**

"Sure enough, she is here," Andrew said to himself, "I _still_ cannot believe this is actually real!" He proceeded through the double doors, and was greeted by Daisy, the eldest of the four Waterflower sisters, and perhaps the most egocentric of the four as well. Her natural blond hair was long and flowing, with large clumps of her hair curling around her face. Her eyes were a rich shade of green, and her skin was very pale. "Like, hi there, Andrew. I see you're the first one to the Gym, as usual."

An itch developed on Andrew's left arm, and he scratched it nervously, saying, "Uhh… hi." Daisy's cheerful face relaxed slightly and she said encouragingly, "Like, its okay, Andrew. I know what's going on with you right now; we all do." She turned and pointed at a pair of large red doors along the wall behind her, and told Andrew, "Just, like, go in there. You'll be fine, just relax a bit." Andrew shyly replied "thanks," and walked up to one of the doors, pushing it open to reveal the large pool room.

The room itself was much like Andrew anticipated. The walls of the lower area rose to several rows of spectator seats, for shows the Gym gave, and public Pokémon battles. Below the seats on each side of the pool area were hallways, where windows allowed a view of the poolside floor.

Along the side of the pool were two other young women, whom Andrew knew as Violet and Lily. The both of them were similar to their sister, Daisy. However, Violet's hair was a deep aquatic blue, she had ruby red eyes, and she was also the second oldest. Lily, the second youngest, had bubblegum pink hair, and pale blue eyes. Daisy, Violet, and Lily were all approximately the same height. Violet and Lily were preparing the pool for trainers that were to challenge for the Cascade badge. Lily was checking the acidity of the pool water, and Violet was preparing the pads that float in the pool during Pokémon battles.

As Andrew shut the large red door behind him, Violet looked up at him and waved her hand in the air to get his attention, saying, "Hi, Andrew!" Andrew nodded in recognition as he saw Lily look up to acknowledge his presence. Lily said, "Like, how are you feeling today, Andrew?" Andrew responded, "Awkward, at best, but other than that, I feel great!"

"It's all right, Andrew," Lily told Andrew, "it's sorta' like the first day living in a new place, or, like, at a new job or something. You'll get used to it… But like, hey, at least you're happy, right?"

"Yeah, you're right…"

"Well, since you're usually here to train your Pokémon," Violet chimed in, "you just head down that hall beside me, and find out where Misty is. I've seen her wandering around here somewhere. I think she's feeding the Pokémon right now. Since she's usually the one helping you train, you're going to have to find out where she's at first."

Andrew smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay then, I'll go and look for her." He left the main pool room and back into the lobby. He turned left and proceeded down the hall. He felt almost as though he knew the layout of the Gym, despite having never entered it before. When Andrew came upon a turn to the left down another hallway, he proceeded down it, and passed by Violet on the other side of the glass. When she noticed him, she waved and gave a peace sign to signal to Andrew that he was headed in the right direction.

As he continued down the hall, Andrew found that the floor had suddenly begun to slope downwards. Walking further down the hall, he passed by a door to his right with a small sign labeled 'Training' next to it. Andrew tried to open the door, only to find that it was locked, and so proceeded further down the hall. To each side of him, Andrew took notice of the large windows that showed various views of the water tanks that the Gym kept its water Pokémon in, since the Gym was also a small Pokémon aquarium.

Further down the hall, Andrew noticed an open door. When he approached the door, he saw a sign with the words "**Tanks 3 and 4**" printed on it. He entered, and walked to the back of the short hallway, which had two doors on the end of it, one labeled "**Tank 3**" and the other, "**Tank 4**". He opened the door marked "**Tank 3**" and walked down the staircase. When he reached the bottom, he found the room to be empty. He turned around and walked back up the stairs, and through the door labeled "**Tank 4**". When he reached the bottom of the steps, he saw Misty on top of a stepladder, feeding the Pokémon in the tank.

Misty wasn't much the same as her sisters. She looked similar to her other three sisters, but her skin was a slightly richer tone, her hair was a bright and vivid orange, straight and cut short, and tied up into a ponytail that protruded from the left side of her head. Her eyes were a richer shade of the same blue green color of Andrew's eyes. She was the youngest and shortest of the four sisters, but she was the smartest out of her sisters, and also the best battler. She turned towards Andrew as he reached the bottom of the staircase, and said brightly, "Oh, hi Andrew! I was wondering when you'd show up."

Andrew, on the other hand, was too in awe for words. In his old reality, he loved her so much that it drove him to the brink of insanity on more than a few occasions. He had always thought of her as the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in all his life. She had a charm about her; a certain way of saying and doing everything. Every time Andrew would so much as see her name written, whatever he had been thinking about at the time was completely obliterated as a tidal wave of thoughts about her rushed into his mind. Now he was in her world, meeting her face to face. He couldn't speak; he couldn't think. He trembled violently, his knees gave out, and he fell flat on his face. He didn't care much, however; he was in the same room as Misty, the only girl he ever wanted to devote his heart to. He was breathing the same air as she; but now, he could smell the sweet but subtle scent of her perfume and undetectable feminine pheromones.

Andrew heard the sound of Misty's footsteps as she rushed over to help him, and propped him up into a sitting position against the wall, the concern more than evident as she called, "Andrew, are you okay? Andrew?" Andrew's neck was still lax, his head pointed down towards the floor. When he began to raise his head, his eyes swiftly connected and locked onto Misty's, and he suddenly felt a wave of love overcome him. It was a feeling of love greater than the conglomeration of a thousand lifetimes' worth. He felt his face getting warm. It started to feel as though he had sunburn, and was getting hotter. He was blushing so hard that he began to get dizzy. His view blurred, his eyes rolled upwards, and his head fell backwards. The ceiling lights blinded him, and his eyes shut in reaction. He could faintly hear Misty calling to him as the darkness overcame him. His feelings for her overwhelmed him to the point of fainting on the spot.


	3. Day One, Part Two

**Chapter 3: Day One, Part Two**

A voice—faint, but audible. It was the voice of Misty, who called softly to Andrew, "Andrew? Andrew, can you hear me?" Andrew gave a slight grunt, and then slowly opened his eyes. He was looking at a ceiling, plain and white. He felt himself lying on his back, on something soft. He shifted his eyes, and realized that he wasn't in the same room that he had passed out in.

"Andrew," Misty again called to him, and he swung his eyes to the right, looking at the top of Misty's head. He turned his head to face her, looking into her eyes. She smiled, and so did he. He asked, "Misty?"

"Its okay, Andrew. You're going to be fine."

"What… what happened?"

"You fainted."

"It figures," Andrew said, smirking while sitting up on the couch he was lying on and looking around, "Where are we?"

"Our house, behind the Gym."

"What do you mean, 'our house'?"

"The house that my sisters and I live in."

"Oh, right… Didn't think of that one," Andrew said. He then noticed that Misty was holding onto his right hand, and had apparently been for some time. He pointed towards his hand while saying to Misty, "Uh, you can let go of my hand now; I'm fine." She quickly pulled her hand away and blushed, saying, "Oh, sorry about that." Andrew liked it when Misty blushed; he thought it was insanely cute. He followed suit himself by also blushing, though not nearly as severely as before. Misty smiled at him, and said, "Andrew, you're blushing." Andrew smirked and replied, "So are you, Misty." They both laughed together, and then Andrew stood up and stretched.

"So, how long was I out for?" Andrew asked, still stretching.

"About an hour, I suppose," Misty replied, standing to her feet.

"That long, eh? I think I'll head outside and get warmed up… Then let's do some training, how 'bout it?"

"That sounds great! I could use a bit of a warm-up too… I'll come with you."

"Sure, but just don't worry if I keep tripping and falling."

"Yeah, I know… You're not used to having such long legs just yet."

Misty and Andrew walked out the back of the house—which wasn't very far from the Gym—and Misty released the Pokémon that she was going to train with into a nearby lake. Andrew followed suit, releasing his four Pokémon on the shore beside the lake. Andrew looked over at Misty's Pokémon, and noticed a small Pokémon that floated above the others in the group. It had an egg-shaped body, and a predominantly white color, with red and blue triangle outlines around its midsection. On its back, it had two stationary wing-like appendages. Its head was large compared to its body, and supported by a thin neck. Andrew recognized this Pokémon immediately, and muttered to himself its name—Togetic. He turned to Misty, and was about to ask about Togetic, but then remembered what Rebecca told him—there were things that were going to be different, and this was apparently one of them.

Andrew decided that it would be best not to think about it too much, and began bending and twisting to stretch his back. "Oh yeah, that feels good," Andrew said while twisting to the side, "Now to warm up my legs." He crouched, then stood up, and repeated his pattern of crouching and standing. When he crouched the last time, he jumped off the ground with all his might, soaring high into the air. He came down in much the same fashion as he did earlier in front of his house, making another set of footprint indentations in the ground. This time, however, Andrew knew that his feet were going to be stuck, so he lifted his feet out carefully, without falling over again. He looked over to Misty, who seemed to be somewhat awestruck. He smiled and said, "Aw man, that's fun!"

Misty shook her head slightly, and put her right arm behind her, her left hand holding her right elbow above her head. Andrew chuckled slightly, and began stretching his arms as well. When he finished with his stretching, he said, "All right, now for some jogging around the lake!" Misty nodded, and said, "Yeah, let's do that." She turned to her Pokémon in the lake, and told them, "I want you all to lap around the edge of the lake as well." Andrew followed Misty's example, and told his Pokémon, "All right, guys, follow me," and took off down the side of the lake, his Pokémon charging on the land to his left, and his Starmie in the water to his right.

When Misty realized that Andrew had taken off without her, she shouted to him playfully, "Hey! Wait for me!" and chased after Andrew. As Misty dashed to catch up to Andrew, her Pokémon charged through the water to keep up with her hastened pace, Togetic floating effortlessly above her. After a few laps around the rather large lake, Misty stopped to take a rest at a nearby tree. Andrew however, hadn't even begun to break a sweat, so he kept on jogging around the lake with his Pokémon; Misty's Pokémon following behind Andrew's Starmie. Andrew finished two more laps around the lake before sitting down next to Misty.

Andrew took a deep breath of the fresh, warm air, and said pleasantly, "This is just great! I've never felt this good before!" He looked over to Misty, and saw that she was smiling at him. She replied, "That's nice to know, Andrew. Well, I think we're well warmed up, so let's get to some training!" Andrew stood up, and said, "Sounds perfect! It being a nice day and all, I say we train out here, beside the lake." Misty nodded, and they both walked over to the lake, where their Pokémon were waiting.

Andrew took another deep breath of air, standing confidently. "Okay," he said, then his expression went blank, "…now what?" Misty giggled at Andrew's humorous expression—or lack thereof—and said, "Just call over your Nidoking, since he's usually the first one you wind up training, and you train him the hardest." "Very well," Andrew said. He looked over at Nidoking, and signaled him over with a gesture of his hand. Nidoking nodded, and stepped in front of Andrew, facing Misty.

Misty looked over to the lake, and called over her Starmie. It leapt over to in front of Misty, and stood facing Nidoking, its gem shining brilliantly. Misty looked over to Andrew, and asked, "How would you like to train your Nidoking today?" Andrew replied, "I hadn't thought of that one. Perhaps some water resistance training?" "Sure thing," Misty said to him, nodding. Without hesitation, Misty commanded Starmie, "Okay, Starmie, give it a Water Gun attack!" "Nidoking," Andrew called, "Quickly, defend!" Nidoking lowered himself onto one knee and braced for the incoming Water Gun attack. As the jet of water hit Nidoking, it barely seemed to have affected him. When the attack ceased, Nidoking stood back up and roared.

Andrew clapped his hands together in congratulation, and said, "Good job, Nidoking. Now try taking this next attack without defending." Andrew nodded to Misty, who then ordered another Water Gun attack from Starmie. As the water hit Nidoking, it again seemed to have little effect. "Great work, Nidoking!" Andrew said, again clapping his hands together. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and turned to look at it, and said, "Ah, it seems we're starting to attract some spectators, Misty." Indeed they were; there were two people sitting on a bench and three other people standing nearby watching Andrew and Misty train.

Throughout the course of the day, Andrew continued to do water resistance training. With every passing pair of minutes, more and more people came to watch the reigning champion of the Pokémon League train his Pokémon with the assistance of their local Gym leader. When Andrew had finished training his Charizard, he recalled him to his Pokéball, saying, "Okay, Charizard! That's enough getting soaked for today!" He looked over to Misty, who was recalling her Corsola, and said, "Well, I'd say that's a good day of training!" Misty began recalling her other Pokémon, saying to Andrew, "Yeah, that was really good! You trained really well for being your first real day here."

"Thanks, Misty. Well, I'm going to head over to the Pokémon Center to get these guys treated."

"I'm going to go to the Gym to accept some badge challenges."

"All right, I'll be back in a little while then to watch, okay?"

"Sure thing, Andrew!"

Andrew knew the Pokémon Center was to the north of the Gym, and also located within the park itself. As he walked past the crowd of people, he noticed several members had walked over toward the Gym, possibly following Misty. Most of the group walked off in any direction they pleased, but some had taken to following Andrew as well. He stopped, and they walked up to him, and asked him for his autograph. "Not right now, people," Andrew explained to them, "I've other matters to attend to at this point in time. Perhaps you can come by tomorrow, when I won't be so busy." Disappointed, they walked away, while Andrew thought, "_Good thing is, they won't even know that they were even turned away in the first place._"

He saw the Pokémon Center come into view as he walked over the top of a hill. Upon seeing it, he noticed that it was larger than he expected. However, he remembered that most Pokémon Centers also have several rooms for passing trainers to stay in without cost. He entered the Center, and noticed the nurse at the reception desk at the far end of the lobby. He recognized the nurse and as he approached the desk, thought, "_Sure enough, a Nurse Joy for every Pokémon Center._" Upon reaching the desk, the nurse said to him, "Hi, Andrew. Had another day of training at the Gym?" Andrew replied, "Yep," while taking his four Pokéballs off of his belt, and placing them on the desk. Nurse Joy picked up the Pokéballs, and placed them in a specially designed tray, and said to Andrew, "Their examination should be complete in a few minutes." Andrew nodded, and said, "I'll just wait at a seat then."

Andrew walked over to one of the white leather seats and sat down in it. He liked how the leather felt cool against his body. Noticing a magazine on the small table in front of the seats, Andrew picked it up and began reading it to pass the time. He was quickly absorbed in a very interesting article about modern medicines achieved through the assistance of Poison and Grass type Pokémon. Soon after, Nurse Joy signaled that Andrew's Pokémon were ready. Andrew walked over to the front desk, and clipped the Pokéballs back onto his belt. As Andrew was clipping the Pokéballs to his belt, Nurse Joy said, "As usual, there were no problems, and your Pokémon were in tip-top shape to begin with." Andrew nodded and thanked Nurse Joy for her work. Before leaving, he decided to stop and finish the article he had been reading from Pokémon Monthly.

When Andrew walked out of the Pokémon Center, he decided to run back to the Gym at full speed. However, the Gym came upon him sooner than he expected. He attempted to stop, but all he managed to do was carve deep trenches in the ground that led up to the side wall of the Gym. Pulling himself off of the wall—which proved surprisingly unforgiving—he muttered to himself, "That… kinda hurt… just a bit…" He let himself fall backwards onto the ground, which had the effect of dislodging his stiffened muscles from the impact. Groaning, he stood back up, and swaggered slightly as he made his way back towards the front of the Gym, making sure his head was straight before entering.

When Andrew stepped into the Gym, he saw many young trainers sitting on benches in the lobby area. As he neared the double red doors, he heard one of the kids talking about him, and stopped to listen, his right hand resting against the door. "Where does he think he's going? That lady said that no challengers were allowed in there."

"Dude, don't you know who that is? That's Andrew Masako, the winner of the last Pokémon League Championship. He was completely undefeated!"

"No way! Mister Masako, here?!"

"I wanna battle him!"

"Dude, you'd get creamed."

"Nuh-uh!"

Andrew smiled and chuckled to himself slightly, pushing one of the double red doors open, and entering the pool room. When he entered, he saw Violet battling against a young challenger of about 11 years or so. Andrew walked over to the bench that Misty was sitting on, sat down beside her, and asked, "So, what are the stats?"

"Three on Three. Violet's on her last, and this kid's Bulbasaur is totally dominating."

"Hmm, seems like this kid is doin' pretty good."

The young trainer ordered a Vine Whip attack from his Bulbasaur, knocking out Violet's Starmie and ending the battle. Violet walked over to the young trainer and handed him the Cascade Badge, saying, "Good job, Vinnie. That Bulbasaur of yours is really well trained." Vinnie took the Cascade Badge, and replied rudely, "Pfft, too easy!"

Andrew became angered at Vinnie's rude comment, and stood up off the bench, addressing him, "Hey, kid!" Vinnie looked over to Andrew, and said, "What do you want?"

"You think this kind of stuff is easy, do you?"

"Yeah, it is easy. What's it to you?"

Andrew grabbed Starmie's Pokéball off of his belt, and said, "You want to back up that claim?" Vinnie replied arrogantly, "Sure, I'll battle you. Just be prepared to lose!" Andrew became even angrier with Vinnie, and said, "Humph. We'll see who'll be the loser here."

Vinnie turned back to the Gym pool and released Bulbasaur again as Andrew walked to the other end of the pool and readied the Pokéball he was holding. Vinnie said confidently to his Bulbasaur, "Hey Bulby, ready for another easy win?" The Bulbasaur replied confidently, "Bulba-saaur!" Andrew threw the Pokéball to the water, commanding, "Starmie, go!" Vinnie folded his arms and said, "_Another_ Starmie? Those things are pushovers!" Before Vinnie could finish his sentence, Andrew had already ordered Starmie to do a Water Gun attack at the Bulbasaur. Vinnie hurriedly told his Bulbasaur to dodge it, but the jet of water came at Bulbasaur so fast that it hadn't even gotten its front feet off the floating mat. It was sent flying into the back wall of the Gym, and fell to the floor.

Vinnie was shocked. "Oh no!" he said, "Bulby, get to your feet quick!" Andrew said, "Okay, Starmie, it's soaked, so finish this up with Thunderbolt." Vinnie snapped toward Andrew, and mocked, "Ha! You should know better! Starmie aren't able to…" Vinnie stopped his sentence when he saw Starmie begin to spin and unleash bolts of electricity that completely overwhelmed his Bulbasaur. The attack ceased, and left the Bulbasaur sitting on the floor, paralyzed and knocked cold. Andrew said confidently, "And that's that. Starmie: one, Bulbasaur: zero," and recalled Starmie to its Pokéball.

Vinnie hurriedly recalled his Bulbasaur, and grabbed his other Pokéball, saying to Andrew, "Well, you only won because Bulby was tired, that's all! You won't be able to stop my Nidoran!" He threw the Pokéball, and a pink Nidoran, with long, spiky ears and a long, sharp horn on its head appeared. "Ah, a Nidoran," Andrew said calmly, "Tell me, do you even know what gender it is?"

"Of course I know what gender it is! It's a, uh, a female, that's it!"

"Wrong! Female Nidoran are smaller, blue, have a shorter horn and smaller, rounded ears."

"Well, it doesn't matter! It'll still be able to beat you!"

"Did you watch the last Pokémon League Championships when they were held?"

"Of course I watched it! Why are you stalling?"

Violet was watching the argument the whole time, and decided to ask Vinnie, "Well, if you watched it, would you please describe who won the Championship?" Vinnie tried to act smart by saying, "Of course! He was tall, with a blue green trench coat, and pale skin, and dark brown hair, and pale blue green eyes, and…" Vinnie's face began to pale once he realized that he was describing the appearance of Andrew, standing just across the Gym pool, and looking right into his eyes with a piercing stare and a sinister smirk, "…and blue jeans… and… brown hiking boots… and that Nidoking of his…"

It was at this time that Andrew quickly flung Nidoking's Pokéball toward the nearest pad. Nidoking appeared in a flash of light, and roared loudly when it appeared. Vinnie began to shake, and finished his sentence by saying, "…that granite Nidoking!" Andrew smirked, and said to Vinnie, "Well, you can both recall your Nidoran and apologize to Violet for being so rude, or I can have my Nidoking beat your Nidoran into pulp." Vinnie immediately put his hands together, and bowed towards Violet saying, "I'm so sorry I was so rude to you!" in a rushed and pleading tone, and recalled his Nidoran. "I thought so," Andrew said. Vinnie began to walk towards the door, when Andrew shouted to him, "Wait right there! There are some things I want to talk to you about before you go."

Vinnie turned around nervously, and asked shakily, "Wh-what is it, mister Masako?" Andrew spoke in a tone much calmer than before, saying, "First off, calm down a bit there, kid. Secondly, call me Andrew."

"What was it that you wanted… Andrew?"

"Well, I wanted to tell you that you're more than likely not going to get much of anywhere with that cocky attitude you've got going on there. Also, I want to give you some advice."

Andrew turned to Violet, and asked, "Violet, could you please let the other trainers in the lobby in here? I want them to hear this, too." Violet nodded, and turned towards the double red doors, but they burst open immediately, and dozens of young trainers poured into the pool room. Andrew realized that they must have been watching Vinnie get humiliated the whole time. "Okay everybody," Andrew began, "sit down now, and listen to me." Every one of the trainers promptly sat down around Andrew, listening intently to what he was going to say.

"Out in the world, you're bound to find competitors that will prove to be more than you're able to handle. Even I faced situations like that, especially early on in my journey. At this point in time, you might be able to overcome many challenges right now with what you've got, but you certainly don't have anywhere near what its going to take to earn you any sort of bragging rights at all. But, many of you try your hardest, and some probably went in far too overconfident about your abilities. Try to keep a level head about things, and train hard. Now, does this necessarily mean that you'll have to go out and catch every Pokémon you see? For some, you may need to, but by the same token, some of you might be perfectly fine just having a few Pokémon."

Andrew released his Starmie, Gardevoir, and Charizard onto the poolside floor, and Nidoking jumped over and stood next to Charizard, while Andrew continued speaking.

"Take me for example. I only carry around four different Pokémon. I only train these four, and these are the only four I have. Others may do well with carrying around a full six Pokémon, with plenty of other ones caught as backup, incase the situation might arise where he or she might need them. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Training several Pokémon ensures that you'll be able to appropriately choose your party to counteract opponents' Pokémon, though you won't have as much time to dedicate to each Pokémon. Training only a few ensures that you get to devote much, much more of your training time to only that specific few, but the downside is that you more than likely won't have the right defensive team for any particular opponent. However, there are steps you can take to help you regain an edge in battle with a limited group."

Andrew signaled his Nidoking to enter the battle area. Nidoking jumped back onto the nearest floating pad. "All right, trainers, I want you to file over and up onto the seats, and observe as I demonstrate some things." The young trainers lined themselves up along the spectator seats above the poolside floor, and watched intently. Andrew continued his speech.

"First off, make sure that you train them to resist things that they are weak against. My Nidoking here, despite being a ground type, has no fear of the water, and is perfectly comfortable with jumping into the water. He also knows various types of water and ice type attacks, such as Surf, Bubblebeam, Water Gun, Ice Beam, and Blizzard. These attacks are a great defense against other ground type Pokémon he may be facing against. If he were to face against a water type, I would employ the use of electric moves, such as Thunderbolt and Thunder. Nidoking are not capable of learning or using plant type moves, however. Or at least, I haven't been able to get my Nidoking to learn them properly yet. Speaking of plant types, my Nidoking is also well equipped to deal with them, being able to use fire type moves such as Flamethrower and Fire Blast, and all Nidoking can easily learn Megahorn, a bug type attack. My Nidoking also knows how to use a flying type attack, Peck, as well. And lastly, he can use dark type attacks such as Bite and Shadow Ball, for competing against psychic type Pokémon."

While Andrew spoke to the trainers about the various attacks that he taught his Pokémon, they demonstrated use of the attack in the pool below. When he concluded his speech, he showed the trainers a sample battle between his Nidoking and a Gyarados, commanded by Misty. In the battle, he described how he would determine the best course of action against his opponent, the Pokémon type that he was up against, and the variety and effectiveness of his attacks. He talked about what the advantages and disadvantages would be for each of his Pokémon to go against the Gyarados, and what the outcome would probably be, if both the Pokémon were at relatively the same strength. He concluded the unscheduled seminar by saying that he would not be giving out autographs that day, should anyone have wanted one.

As the young trainers began to file back out into the lobby, Misty walked over to Andrew, and said quietly to him, "That was a really good speech you gave." Andrew leaned over towards Misty, and replied, "Thanks." After all of the trainers were out of the pool room, Misty walked over to the far side of the pool, and stood in the Gym leaders' box, telling Violet to send in the next challenger for a Cascade Badge. Throughout the rest of the day, Misty accepted challenges, while Violet judged the battles. After the last trainer left the Gym—sans a Cascade Badge—Daisy put a sign on the door that read, "**Not accepting any more challengers today. Please come back tomorrow.**"

Andrew and Misty walked out of the Gym, to get some fresh air. "So," Misty asked, "Are we going to head up to your house soon?" Andrew wasn't expecting Misty to have asked to come to his house, and so replied by asking, "You want to come up to my place?"

"Yeah, I come with you to your house for dinner almost every evening."

"I see…"

"Your mother is a really great cook."

"She is? Good, I'm in the mood for a good home-cooked meal."

"Also, I think I'll spend the night at your house again."

"What?"

"I do it all the time; it's nothing strange. I stay in the guest room."

Andrew remembered what Rebecca had said about the guest room when she showed him around the house earlier that day.  
"_Used quite often by a single person…_" Rebecca's words echoed in Andrew's mind. Andrew shrugged, and started walking back towards his house, expecting Misty to follow. However, he heard Misty ask, "Where's your car at? I don't see it anywhere. I don't see your truck around here, either." Andrew turned around, and asked, "Car? Truck? I didn't even know I had anything to drive at all." Misty looked confused, and asked, "Well then how did you get down here so early? It would take at least two hours to get down here on foot."

"Actually, I ran."

"You _ran_ down here? That must have been exhausting. No wonder you passed out."

"Actually, I wasn't exhausted at all when I got here. Remember, I have a new body."

"Oh yeah."

"And also remember, or if you didn't know, that for today I have some… incredible muscular performance. Running down here took a matter of minutes."

Even still, how are we going to get up there? I can't run that fast, you know."

"It's okay, I can just carry you."

"If you insist…"

During their conversation, they had already begun walking towards Andrew's house. When they reached the edge of the city, Andrew told Misty, "Just climb onto my back, and hang on!" Misty put her arms around Andrew's neck, and held her hands together. Andrew shot off down the road towards his house, and as he was dashing across the long and empty field, he noticed that the sky was a vivid orange color, as the sun hung low in the sky.

A few minutes later, Andrew arrived at the end of his driveway. Misty withdrew her arms from Andrew's neck, and set her feet on the ground. "That was… new…" she said, shaking her hands, since they were tense from being held together so tightly. "So, where are these vehicles you mentioned?" Misty led Andrew over to a side garage that Andrew didn't even notice at all. Inside were three vehicles. The first vehicle was a large, black pickup truck, with a vibrant red velvet interior. The second vehicle was a medium-sized sporty car, painted in a tan color that had a golden luster to it. Along the lower body and the back end of the car ran a large belt of a deeper shade of gold. Both of the vehicles had only two doors. The last car was more of a luxury vehicle, white with a light beige leather interior. "The truck and the tan car are yours, and the white car is your mother's," Misty said, while Andrew was busy examining the vehicles in detail. "I take it there's some custom bodywork done to these two vehicles?"

"Yeah, there is."

"Nice… How was I able to get these—they look familiar?"

"Well, the truck you had restored, since it's a rare model that you probably recognize."

"Wait a minute… You're right; these cars look like cars from my old reality!"

"That's because they are."

"Really? I didn't think that brand names and such would be mirrored in this reality."

"There are actually a lot of brand name products here, but the brand names themselves are different. Of course, there are plenty of new brand names that are unfamiliar to you."

"But, why would there be some of my reality's products?"

"Well, I don't know if you were told this, but your mind did more than just choose this reality…"

"What do you mean, Misty?"

"It had a large hand in creating it."

"What?! You mean that my existence here I mostly a manifestation from my own mind?"

"Exactly."

"Then, where did everybody here come from? What minds control them?"

"Free-roaming minds… They were spirits of other existences and universes whose minds were changed and molded to suit your deepest desires. Most of them still have a great degree of freedom in their behavior, though."

"What about this reality? Was it even around before I came here?"

"Actually, it wasn't. It was created shortly before your new body was created here."

"But then, how is my mind going to integrate with a past that never existed?"

"Just because it never happened doesn't mean that it never existed. It was created along with everything else in this reality. Oh, and by the way, it wasn't much fun being created without any clothing. I'm just glad that my sisters and I won't remember anything from today."

"Heh, I was lucky enough to encounter a mirror and get some clothes on before anybody saw me. Rebecca must have known, since she had clothes on when I encountered her earlier in the morning."

"Did somebody mention me?"

Andrew and Misty turned towards the house to see Rebecca standing at the door, apparently having listened to the entirety of Misty and Andrew's discussion. "Actually Misty," Rebecca started, "you have a few of your facts a little crooked. I'll explain after dinner, since I'm sure the both of your must be quite hungry by now." Andrew and Misty looked at one another, nodded, and walked inside, taking their shoes off at the door.

After eating their fill of the casserole Rebecca prepared, Andrew and Misty sat down in the living room, joined soon after by Rebecca. "Okay," Rebecca began, "I'm going to give you a bit more of a detailed breakdown of the situation." Misty and Andrew both nodded, and sat back quietly, letting Rebecca speak.

"Andrew, as you already know, your mind has split, and your parent mind has come here, to this reality. However, this reality isn't a cut-and-dry mold of what you envisioned it to be. The reality itself was already here, but in a different form. There are some key elements here that were created when you came; objects, concepts, and people. Even the people's minds were created from nothing, just like their bodies. Though their minds were created with a personality and a large amount of information already known, they apparently got some of the information wrong. Also, all of this past awareness and such of these certain key figures stems from the information that the minds were created with. Upon the first night, while they sleep, their minds will too integrate with the reality, just as yours will, Andrew."

Andrew blinked. "Does that mean that Misty's mind and body were created when I came here?"

"Yes, it does. But just because her mind is new doesn't mean that she's some kind of puppet. She's exactly like you; she has feelings, emotions, thoughts, aspirations, and the like just as you do. In short, she's no less a normal human being than you are, Andrew."

Misty sighed, saying, "I'm glad to hear that… I would hate to be thought of as just some kind of puppet."

"Indeed. Oh, and Andrew…"

"Yeah?"

"Tonight, you're going to dream about your past. This kind of dream is purely integration with this reality; your mind will never leave this reality tonight. Your mind is going to replace all of your old memories with the new ones from this reality, leading up to a different version of this day. Any space left over will be distorted memories from what really happened today, which will be forgotten, just like any dream you've had in the past."

"I see."

"Well, you had better get yourself ready for the night. It's going to be a long one."

"Very well," Andrew said, and stood up, "I'm going to bathe."

Andrew walked up the stairs and walked to the end of the path. When he opened the door, he saw a room that had only a sink and a mirror, with a door on the sink's wall to the left of the sink, and a door on the wall to Andrew's right. On a whim, Andrew opened the door to the right, and walked in. Inside, he found a room about the same size as his closet. At the opposite corner of the room was another door, and in front of Andrew was a washer/dryer unit. Next to the unit was a small table with folded clothes on it. The clothes seemed to be cleaned and dry. Next to the table was a bin, with a few articles of unwashed laundry in it. Along other parts of the wall were pink and blue towels and white washcloths on a shelf, and long garments hanging underneath the shelves. There were three garments hanging there, one in a predominantly slate blue color, one in a light pink color, and one in a lavender color.

Andrew opened the door at the other end of the room, and was surprised at what he found. The room was spacious, and had a tile floor, that gently sloped down to a drain at the center. Near one corner was a mirror. Below the mirror was a shelf with various bottles of shampoo and a bar of soap. Sitting beneath the shelf was a small seat, and a large basin, most likely to hold water. Near the mirror was a hose attached to a sprayer, with valves at the base of the hose for controlling the water flow. At the other end of the room sat a large tub, filled with water that appeared cloudy. "_Oh no…_" Andrew thought as he realized why the bathroom was the way it was.

Andrew walked over to the tub of water, and slowly reached his hand down to it. As soon as fingertips entered the water, Andrew snapped his hand back and shook it. "Yikes!" Andrew said to nobody in particular, "That is some really hot water!" Andrew turned around and looked toward the mirror. "_Just great,_" he thought, "_A Japanese-style bathroom._" Andrew's eyes quickly dilated, and he rushed out of the bathing room, and over to the door he hadn't opened. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he found that the toilet in the other room was still Western in its design.

Andrew walked back into the changing room, and stood hesitant for a moment. "_Well,_" Andrew concluded, "_if this is how it's going to be, than so be it!_" He closed the entrance door from the path outside, and the door to the changing room. He slowly and nervously began to undress. When he was ready, he grabbed a blue towel and a washcloth, and walked into the actual bath room part of the bathroom. Andrew took the seat and basin from beneath the shelf, and set them up. He filled the basin with water, and rinsed himself. Reaching for the soap on the shelf, Andrew realized, "_I'm not doing this right._" He shrugged it off, thinking "_Oh well,_" and began to lather the soap with the wet washcloth from the water in the basin. As he washed his arm, Andrew took notice to the fact that his scars from earlier that day were completely gone, as though he had never been hurt at all. "Wow," Andrew said as he continued to wash his arm, "quick healing!"

When he had finished washing, Andrew rinsed himself off, emptied the basin of its water, and rinsed off the basin, seat, and surrounding area. He put the basin and seat away, and wrapped a towel around his waist. Andrew walked over to the tub, with its water so hot that it was murky. He cautiously eased his way into the water, which was much hotter than he was used to. As his right foot made contact with the bottom of the tub, Andrew's more sensitive upper leg began to feel too hot for Andrew to handle. He quickly jumped back and out of the tub, shouting "Yee-ouch!" Andrew continued to hop around as the towel around his waist had gotten wet with the hot water. When his hopping ceased, Andrew said, "Great. I'm not supposed to get the towel wet!" He gave a sigh, said "what's it matter now," and put his foot back into the tub. He climbed in slowly, resisting his reflex to want to leap back out of the tub. When he was fully in the tub, the pain sensation began to fade as his body began to adjust to the hot water. Andrew leaned his head on the back of the tub, and closed his eyes. Though the water still caused him some discomfort, it made him feel relaxed and at ease.

Andrew thought about what his future might have in store for him, when he heard the door from the path outside open. He shrugged it off as he heard another door open. Unexpectedly, there came a knock at the door from the changing room. "Who is it?" Andrew called from the tub. "Its me," he heard Misty say from the other side of the door.

"What is it, Misty?"

"I wanted to know if you were done in there."

"Well, I'm still in here, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but are you done washing? I want to get cleaned up before it gets too late as well."

"What?! You mean to tell me you want to come in here and wash up, before I'm even out of here?"

"Yes," she said very matter-of-factly.

"You know, Misty, that isn't very like of you, you know."

"I know. But I don't mind, and I'm sure you don't."

"Whatever."

Misty opened the door, and stepped inside the bathroom. Andrew watched her enter, and when she looked over to him, he blushed furiously and quickly moved to a location in the tub that faced the back wall of the bathroom. "You know that men and women shouldn't be bathing in the same room at the same time," Andrew said. "And you know that they aren't laws that are written in stone, Andrew," Misty replied, as Andrew heard Misty walk back into the changing room, and close the door. She opened the door and entered again shortly after, and Andrew could hear the seat and basin being set up. He submerged himself into the water, until only his head was above the water's surface, still looking at the back wall of the bathroom. When he heard the water being turned on, he asked Misty, "So, what does Rebecca think of all of this?"

"She knows."

"Really now," Andrew said sarcastically.

"I swear she does! As far as the past is concerned, this is nothing unusual."

"I dunno. I find that being in the same local vicinity of someone such as yourself in a situation such as this one to be pretty unusual."

"Not after today, you won't."

Andrew sighed, and tried to ignore the sounds of Misty bathing behind him. He tried to relax, not sure of whether to believe what was happening at the moment or not, and he could feel his heart beating at a hastened pace in his chest. Soon after, he felt the water in the tub shift, and heard a sound to his right. He instinctively turned his head to see what was making the sound, but then turned all the way to the left and blushed furiously when he realized that it was Misty climbing into the tub. "_This is entirely too strange to be true right now,_" Andrew thought, as he felt the water in the tub slowly cease its activity. "So, how did you like your first day so far?" Misty asked calmly. Andrew was still blushing severely, and choked out, "F-fine… just gr-eat…" Misty sighed, and said to Andrew, "its okay, Andrew. Just calm down a little bit. Look." Andrew cautiously looked over towards Misty, and noticed that she was holding a long pink towel at her armpits that was wrapped around her entire body. Andrew breathed a heavy sigh of relief and relaxed slightly, thinking, "_Apparently I'm not the only one who isn't doing this right. Oh well._"

Misty attempted to try and start some more conversation, but it was met with more blurted and somewhat tense replies from Andrew. After a short while, Andrew's replies began to make more sense as he came to grips with his current predicament, and relaxed somewhat more. Before long, they were able to carry on a normal conversation without Andrew stuttering at all. Just before she stood to leave the tub, she said to Andrew, "I'm glad that you're starting to get used to being here." Andrew watched her walk to the center of the bathroom, but quickly looked back when he saw her start to open her towel. After some moments, Andrew heard the door to the changing room open and close. He waited until he heard the other two doors to the bathroom open and close a short while later. Andrew stood from the tub, and walked to the center of the bathroom, removed his towel, and wrung it out. He walked back into the changing room and dried himself off with a dry towel, and threw both the damp towel and towel he just used into the laundry bin, on top of the pink towels that Misty had used.

When he was dry, Andrew looked for something he might wear at night. He looked over to the garments hanging below the towels. Out of the garments that were there when he first entered the changing room, the pink one seemed to be missing. Andrew grabbed the slate blue garment, and held it in front of him. It had a simple darker square pattern repeated over it. When he looked at its shape, the first thing that passed through his mind was that it was a robe, but when he put it on, he seemed to know better. "Great, a kimono. Well, no; this is too thin, and feels like cotton, so it must be a yukata. This is just way too much immersion in the borrowings of another culture for one mind," Andrew said to himself, securely tying the knot of the waist band that held the garment together. Once the knot was tied, he turned the band until the knot was centered on his back. He patted himself on the stomach, and said to himself, "Well, Andrew, you've had a tiring day. Here's to a good night's rest and high hopes for the future. Andrew walked out of the changing room, out of the bathroom altogether, across the path, and into his room.

Andrew walked over to his bed, and climbed into it. He pulled the blanket over his shoulder, and checked his alarm once before taking note of the time, 10:49 PM. He closed his eyes and almost immediately drifted off to sleep.


	4. Feels Like Tomorrow

**Chapter 4: Feels Like Tomorrow**

Nothing. Andrew stood in the middle of a void, with nothing surrounding him. Suddenly, he began to see images and hear sounds. He saw a view of a house from a low angle. He didn't recognize the house, and then his view shifted upwards and to the right, to show a woman who looked like a younger Rebecca from a low angle. Andrew knew that the memory was of him as he left his old home in earlier years of his life. He somehow knew where the house was located, and the events that led up to the move. The image faded, and was replaced by a view of his new home, the house where he was at now. He saw himself helping to move the items, and he saw a small grey male Nidoran sitting in his bedroom, watching him arrange the room's items. He then saw an image of Cerulean City. As Andrew watched the images, he somehow knew what was going on at the time, as if he were recalling memories normally.

Andrew saw the Cerulean Gym for the first time, and he saw the Cerulean Gym leader at the time. He also knew that Misty at the time was too young to be an official Gym leader. Andrew could feel the way that he felt when he first met Misty. He was unsure and uncertain about how he felt about her for some time afterwards. Throughout the dream, Andrew saw vivid recollections of his past events in the world, including various locations throughout the world that he saw as he journeyed across the country, training and battling. To Andrew, it was as if he were watching his life on fast-forward, but knowing everything as if he had lived it. The last imagery he saw was a slightly different version of the day he had just lived. He re-experienced himself giving the lecture, eating the casserole, and preparing for bed. As the recollection of the previous day neared the point where Andrew climbed into bed, time slowed down to the real speed, and when Andrew fell asleep again, everything faded to black.

Andrew awoke quickly and easily as his alarm was blaring at 6 o'clock in the morning. He sat up and turned it off. Climbing out of the bed, he stood up and stretched eagerly. "Well, that was a good night's rest!" he said to himself while stretching. Andrew walked out of his bedroom, and walked over to the guest bedroom, where Misty had spent the night. Knocking on the door twice, he heard, "come in," from the other side, and opened the door. Inside the room, he found Misty, sitting up in the bed, having just woken up as well. She was wearing the pink yukata, with a simple fish silhouette pattern on it. She stood up and stretched a little, while Andrew turned and walked out of the room. He then proceeded to enter the bathroom, where he picked up a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush and brushed his teeth.

While Andrew was brushing his teeth, Misty walked into the bathroom and proceeded to do the same. Wordlessly, they finished up brushing their teeth, and Andrew walked out of the bathroom and back toward his room. As he left, he heard Misty closing the door to the changing room in the bathroom. He went back into his room, and sat down in front of his laptop, opened it up, and turned it on. Opening various applications, he performed his usual morning computer routine of checking any mail he might have. Since he had a separate email address for fans to send their mail to, Andrew could easily check his mail of importance. He found a letter from an old friend he had. After he read it, he spent the rest of the time reading the messages in his "Fan Mail" folder. When he had finished reading his mail, he turned his laptop off and headed back toward the bathroom. He entered the changing room, and knocked twice on the door to the bathing room. Misty replied "Its okay," from the other side, and Andrew undressed and walked into the bathing room.

Misty was in the tub, looking at the back wall, away from Andrew. Andrew cleansed himself, donned a blue towel around his waist, and joined Misty in the tub of hot water. As he became situated with the temperature of the water and began to relax, he turned and asked Misty, "So, did you sleep well last night?"

"I slept like a baby last night. How about you?"

"Well, I slept fine, but I was really sore when I woke up this morning. I don't know why. Oh well, this hot water makes any of that just disappear."

"Yeah, isn't hot water great?"

"Indeed it is."

Misty and Andrew spent some more time talking while relaxing in the hot water. When they were done, Misty climbed out of the tub, and left the bathing room. A few minutes later, Andrew did the same, heading back to his bedroom with a dry blue towel around his waist. He walked over to the dresser, and looked at his bottles of cologne. When he decided on the cologne he would wear, he put it on, and also applied some underarm deodorant. He then opened his dresser drawers and began putting on his clothing.

For the style of the day, he put on a white shirt, deep blue jeans, and a deep blue denim trench coat. He walked out of his bedroom, and as he passed the split in the bridge, Misty walked out of the guest room, wearing a white shirt that exposed her abdomen, blue denim shorts, and a small denim jacket that reached down as far as her shirt. She also had her hair worn down. "Well, what do you know? We match today!" Andrew said sarcastically as Misty walked over to him. "Well, you do remember we have to get to that competition today, Andrew." "Oh, right!" Andrew exclaimed, snapping his fingers, "I forgot all about that!" Misty chuckled, and replied, "Well, then I guess it was a good thing that I'm always there to remind you." "Indeed so," Andrew said, smiling.

Andrew walked downstairs and began to get out various pans and a spatula from the kitchen. "You want some bacon and eggs, Misty?" he called to her, since she had taken a seat on one of the couches in the living room. "Sure thing," she replied. Andrew placed the pans on the stove, greased them, and turned the stoves on. He walked over to the refrigerator, and pulled out a package of bacon and a carton of eggs. He set them on the counter, and put two slices of bread in the toaster. "How do you want your eggs, Misty?" Andrew called, as he was placing the bacon on one of the pans, the grease leaping up from the cold surface of the bacon. "The usual," Misty replied, having moved to the breakfast bar, and was watching Andrew prepare the breakfast. "Alright then!" Andrew called over the sizzling bacon, cracking four eggs on the other pan, and placing a lid on it. A minute later, the first two slices of toast popped up from the toaster, and Andrew promptly took them out and replaced them with two other pieces of bread. After the eggs were cooked, Andrew took two off and put them on one plate, and put the other two on another plate. He then turned off both the burners on the stove, letting the excess heat drain from the pans. Shortly after, the bacon was finished, and Andrew evenly distributed the pieces of bacon amongst the pair of plates as well. By this time, the second batch of toast was finished, so he took the toast out of the toaster, buttered all four pieces, and placed two pieces on each plate. He quickly placed the pans into the sink, and rinsed them with cold water. He picked up the two plates, and also picked up a pair of forks and knives and placed them on the breakfast bar, saying to Misty, "Breakfast is served!"

As she dipped her toast into one of the egg yolks, Misty said to Andrew, "You know, you were always such a fast and efficient cook." Andrew looked at her, smiled, and said modestly, "I try." She took a bite of the toast, and after she swallowed the bite, added, "And a good cook, too." Andrew laughed slightly, and began to eat his own breakfast as well. When they had finished, Andrew took the plates and forks, rinsed them, and placed all of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. As he was drying his hands, Andrew asked, "So, what time does the competition start?" "It starts at noon," Misty replied, "and it's only a quarter 'till eight now." "Good, that means we have plenty of time, still. I'm going to head outside and do a little warm-up training." Misty got out of her seat, and said, "I'll come along. After all, the battles are going to be partner battles, so my Pokémon will need to be ready as well."

Andrew stepped over to the concrete recess, and reached for his boots. At the last minute, he remembered that he wanted to wear his white sneakers, since they matched the rest of his outfit better, so he pulled his sneakers from the shelf and put them on instead. Misty walked over and put her red sneakers on, telling Andrew, "My white sneakers are still over at my house at the Gym." "Well then," Andrew started, "I suppose we'll have to go over there and get them… If we're going to go through the trouble of having matching outfits, we might as well make sure that they match completely." "Yeah, and while we're over there, we might as well train at the Gym again."

Andrew stepped out of the house, and over to the garage. He checked to make sure that he had all four of his Pokéballs with him, and then climbed into the car. He waited until Misty got into the car and had her seatbelt on before putting his seatbelt on and starting the car. Andrew pressed a button on a remote switch attached to the dashboard of the car, and the garage door in front of him opened. He pulled out of the garage, and onto the driveway, the garage door automatically closing behind him. He pulled away from the house, and drove across the verdant hills. Misty opened the sunroof of the car to let some of the fresh, cool morning air flow in. As Andrew drove, he looked over to the mountains, and said to Misty, "Mount Moon… Doesn't it just look so wonderful from here?" "Yeah, it's very lovely, isn't it?"

Andrew continued along the road, until they reached the edge of Cerulean. He immediately turned to the right, and drove the shortest path to the Gym as he could. When they reached a parking lot near the Gym, they stepped out of the car. Misty looked around, and said, "That's odd. I don't see Daisy's car anywhere." Andrew shrugged, and said, "She must be out getting some groceries or clothes or something useless." Misty chuckled, and added, "You're probably right." They walked to the front of the Gym, and Misty immediately headed for the house near the Gym. Andrew walked into the Gym and over to a vending machine in the corner of the lobby, pulling his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans on the way. He held a small card up to the machine, and pressed a button on the front. Seconds later, a 20 ounce bottle of water fell into the collection bin at the bottom of the machine.

Andrew grabbed the bottle, opened it, and sat down on a nearby seat. As he drank from the bottle, a young trainer sitting next to him was looking nervous. "What's wrong, kid?" Andrew asked nonchalantly. "I don't know if I'll be able to win my battle here." "Well," Andrew started, "what kinds of Pokémon do you have?" "I have a Bulbasaur, a Pidgeotto, a Zubat, and a Bellsprout," the kid stammered.

"Have you been training them diligently?"

"Yeah, I've been training them a lot," the kid replied eagerly.

"Then you'll be fine; just keep your Grass-type attacks handy. Say, are you going to be watching the competition being held near the bay today?"

"Yeah, I'm going up there as soon as I'm done with my battle here."

"That's good. You can still learn things about Pokémon battling, even by just watching. As for me, I'm going to be in the competition."

"Cool! I would enter, but there's probably going to be a lot of really strong trainers there. I also don't have a partner to battle with."

"Well, it shouldn't be hard to see me and my partner."

Misty entered the Gym, and was looking around for Andrew. Andrew stood from his seat, saying to the young trainer, "And speaking of my partner, there she is. I'm going to go do some training." Andrew walked over to Misty, who was wearing a pair of white sneakers now, and said, "You ready to go do some training?" "Yeah," Misty replied, and together they walked off toward the training room. On the path to the training room, Misty told Andrew, "I got Ricky and Jennifer to help us with our training today. They're already waiting in the training room." "Hmm…" Andrew asked, "Who's Jennifer?" "Oh," Misty replied, "Jennifer's one of our newest Gym students. Ricky is showing her the ropes." "Ah, I see," Andrew replied while nodding.

When they reached the training room, they were greeted by Ricky, who said, "Hi Andrew" as Andrew walked in. Jennifer's eyes grew wide, and she asked, "Andrew? Are you Andrew Masako?" Andrew nodded, and answered, "Yes, I am Andrew Masako." Jennifer practically jumped six feet into the air, shouting, "Oh my goodness! I don't believe it! Andrew Masako, here?!" Andrew leaned down and whispered into Misty's ear, "I can already see where this is going…" Misty nodded, as Jennifer rushed over to Andrew, and grabbed his hand. For the next few minutes, Jennifer was obsessing over how great Andrew's victory at the Pokémon League Championship was. Once Jennifer settled down somewhat, Andrew asked her calmly, "There now, have you got that all out of your system now?" Jennifer nodded eagerly, and Andrew said, "Good. Now can we get to actually doing some training before it gets too late?" Jennifer nodded, and went back to the other side of the pool, as Andrew sighed.

Andrew and Misty trained until about 11:00. Recalling their final Pokémon, Andrew and Misty both looked at one another and nodded confidently, assuring one another that they were going to do great at the competition later. As they walked out of the Gym, Andrew saw the young trainer he was talking with earlier, proudly holding up a shiny new Cascade Badge. Andrew walked over to the trainer, and congratulated him on his victory, saying, "I told you that you would come through all right." "Yeah, thanks for the help!" the kid said, beaming. "Well, as for me, I'm going to head up to the bay now. You had better get on one of the buses heading that way before they're all gone."

The kid nodded, and ran off towards an edge of the park, where several buses waited to ferry trainers from Cerulean City to the bay, where the competition was to be held. Andrew walked back to his car, where Misty had been waiting for him. As he started the engine of the car, he pondered how strong some of the other trainers at the competition would be, but shrugged off any concern about it. He left the parking lot, and took the freeway northbound. After about half an hour of driving along the rather busy freeway, Andrew pulled off at an exit that was one mile short of his destination. "Why did you pull off here, Andrew?" Misty asked. "You saw the traffic up ahead," replied Andrew, "The next exit would have been clogged with people headed to the competition."

Andrew continued north along the side roads, until he came upon the site of the competition. As he drove into the parking lot, Andrew noticed a section with a sign labeled "**COMPETITORS ONLY**" and pulled into the lot. Parking in an empty space, Andrew turned off the car, and exited it. He took a large breath, and proclaimed, "I can just feel the excitement here today." Misty just looked at him, and shrugged with a smirk.

As they walked into the competitor validation lobby, Andrew saw many tables with signs reading "**COMPETITOR VALIDATION HERE**" hanging from the ceiling above them. Andrew and Misty walked over to one of the tables, at which a Nurse Joy sat, presumably from a local Pokémon Center. "Hello Nurse Joy," Andrew said. "Hello there, sir," she responded, "I take it you're here to validate your registration for the competition?" "That would be the plan," Andrew said with a smile. "Then may I see the trainer cards of you and your registered partner?" Andrew and Misty handed their trainer cards to Nurse Joy, and she scanned them into a computer, saying quietly to herself, "Entrant eight; Andrew Masako and Misty Waterflower." Nurse Joy finished typing on the keyboard, and turned to face Misty and Andrew, saying, "That does it! You're registration has been validated. You'll start out in the fourth round."

Andrew and Misty took their trainer cards when Nurse Joy handed them back, saying "Thanks." "Also," Nurse Joy added, "Would you be interested in participating in a demonstration battle with Lorelei after the competition?" Andrew was confused. "Lorelei is going to be here?" he asked. Misty leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "You know she frequently gives demonstrations at competitions and events. This would be a good chance to battle her, since you're going to be going up against the Elite Four someday in the future anyhow."

Andrew turned to Nurse Joy and said, "Sure thing. I'd love to participate." "Very well then," Nurse Joy answered, "Just come out onto the field when you hear your name called." Andrew nodded, and turned to leave, when Nurse Joy asked, "Say, you wouldn't be the same Andrew Masako that made a sweeping victory in the last Pokémon League Championship, would you?" "Why yes, yes I am." Nurse Joy smirked, and said, "Then I feel sorry for the other competitors here today." Andrew chuckled, and waved as he and Misty walked off.

As they walked through the crowd, Andrew and Misty noticed a pair of very familiar figures standing at another table. When the pair turned, Andrew and Misty were sure of who they were, and walked over to them. "Well, if it isn't mister Ashton Ketchum and mister Brock Slate," Andrew said sarcastically at the two. "Andrew! Misty!" Ash and Brock said as they recognized Andrew and Misty. "How have you been?" Ash said, as he walked up and shook Andrew's hand. "Same old, same old. I've been keeping to my good old schedule of training. How about you?" "I've been spending some time back in Pallet, then I heard about this competition, and I just had to enter!" Misty chuckled, and said playfully, "Yeah, you never could resist a challenge, could you Ash?" Ash laughed, put his hand behind his head shyly, and said, "Well, you know…"

Andrew, Misty, Ash, and Brock walked over to a bench that was set up, and sat down. "So, who's your partner in the competition, Ash?" Misty asked.

"I'm here with Brock. What about you?"

"Me? I'm with Andrew," Misty replied.

"Andrew here… That doesn't surprise me," Brock added, with his usual hearty smile.

"Yeah, Ash isn't the only one around here who can't resist a challenge," Andrew joked.

"So, what's your entry number?" Misty asked Brock.

"We're number twenty three."

"We're number eight," Misty said.

"Hey Ash, did you sign up to participate in one of Lorelei's demonstration battles after the competition?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, I did. I'm hoping that this time, I'm strong enough to knock out at least one of her Pokémon."

"I signed up because I want to experience her battling style first-hand," Andrew said, "Especially since I'll be facing against her when I try to beat the Elite Four."

"Yeah, I remember reading about you saying you were going to do that," Brock said, nodding.

"Well, I probably won't be going up against them for a while," Andrew said. "I'm actually thinking of taking some time off to relax or to explore a little."

"Hey, I know! Once the competition's over, you can come down to Pallet for a while," Ash exclaimed.

"That sounds good. Perhaps I'll take up on your offer."

Brock stood up from the bench, and walked over to a large billboard with a diagram on it. Andrew walked over to the diagram and examined it as well. "It seems they've already chosen what entrant groups will be battling whom," Andrew said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Yeah, it seems so," Brock added, as Misty and Ash walked up to examine the board as well. Misty pointed to a spot on the board, saying, "Here we are, number eight." "We're over here," Brock said, pointing to a spot farther down.

The group turned around when they heard an announcement over the loudspeaker. "Competitor validation complete. All competitors please report to the battling arena." Andrew looked over at Ash, and said, "I guess this is it. Good luck in the competition, Ash." "You too, Andrew," Ash replied. The mass of competitors walked to the battle arena, and arranged on the battlefield in front of the crowd. An announcer stood and spoke to the competitors, saying, "Welcome to the Glistening Bay Competition! Today, you will be battling in a doubles tournament. You and your partner will each use one Pokémon. When both the Pokémon of a team have been declared unable to battle, the match will end. Substitutions are not allowed. Enjoy your time here, and good luck in the competition!" The crowd burst into cheer as all of the competitors bowed in unison, and walked over to a section of seats set off for the competitors.

Andrew and Misty sat down next to Ash and Brock, and watched the first three matches pass by eagerly, as Andrew and Ash talked about what kinds of strategies they would have employed in each situation. After the end of the third match, the announcer declared, "That ends match number three! Match number four will see team sixteen of Julianne Patricia and Robert Vilden junior up against team eight of Misty Waterflower and Andrew Masako!" Upon the mention of Andrew and Misty's names, the crowd burst out into a deafening roar of cheering, much louder than they had been cheering for any other teams. Ash put his hands over his ears, and shouted to Brock, "Is it just me or did it get a lot louder just now?" Brock, who also had his ears covered, shouted back, "I don't think it's just you, Ash!"

Andrew and Misty stepped up to the battler's box on one end of the field, with Julianne and Robert stepping into the other. A pair of screens above the arena showed a circle with alternating stripes of red and green. The decision of which team would be going first would be left up to a computer. The cycle stopped on red, representing Julianne and Robert's team. They looked at one another, and threw their Pokéballs one after another. On the battlefield appeared an Alakazam and a Haunter. "Julianne has chosen an Alakazam, while Robert has chosen Haunter. What will Andrew and Misty send out?" The announcer declared. Andrew and Misty looked at one another, while Andrew said quietly to Misty, "You take out the Haunter. I'll go for the Alakazam." Misty nodded, and in unison, Andrew and Misty threw their Pokéballs out and on to the field. When their Pokémon appeared, the announcer proclaimed, "Andrew has chosen his Nidoking, while Misty has decided to go with Togetic! This could get ugly, folks!" The crowd continued their deafening cheering. Julianne called out, "Alakazam, use Psychic on that Nidoking!" while Robert commanded, "Haunter, use Confuse Ray on Togetic!" Andrew smirked, and called out, "Nidoking, Shadow Ball that Alakazam!" while Misty shouted, "Togetic, use Psychic on Haunter!"

Alakazam barely had time to cross its two spoons together before it was sent flying out of the ring by Nidoking's Shadow Ball, while Haunter was knocked cold as its own Confuse Ray was sent back at it by Togetic's Psychic attack. The referee declared both Alakazam and Haunter unable to battle, and the crowd's cheering was louder than the announcer shouting, "What a stunning upset! Alakazam and Haunter were knocked out before they were even able to complete their first attacks! What else will we see from Andrew and Misty in this competition?" Ash's eyes widened and he screamed over to Brock, "Did they just do what I think they just did?" Brock nodded, adding, "You must remember that they have been doing a whole lot of training together." Andrew and Misty took a bow to the cheering crowd as Julianne and Robert stood there in shock, their faces pale.

Andrew and Misty walked off the battlefield, waving to the screaming audience as they headed back to their seats, in wait of the next challenge. A few matches later, it was Ash and Brock's turn to fight their team battle. As they walked onto the field, Andrew said to Misty, "This ought to be interesting." Ash and Brock were first up to call out their Pokémon. Ash sent his faithful Pikachu, while Brock sent forth his Onix. "It figures," Andrew began, "Ash almost always uses that Pikachu of his." "Yeah," added Misty, "And you almost always use that Nidoking of yours." Andrew chuckled as Ash and Brock's opponents sent out their Pokémon—An Electrode and a Machoke.

The match primarily revolved around a strategy of Onix binding a specific opponent, while Pikachu used Thundershock on the bound opponent. The Electrode, however, used Selfdestruct quite early in the match, leaving a Machoke to be bound and shocked repeatedly. It was a relatively easy victory for Ash and Brock, who turned out to have a relatively solid strategy in this particular match, since Onix was invulnerable to Pikachu's high-voltage assault.

As Ash and Brock took their seats next to Andrew and Misty, Andrew complimented them on their solid strategy in that match. The matches progressed along, when a match came up with a pair of trainers by the names of Garrett and Eric. Their battle was short and to the point; an immediate double knock-out by Garrett's Dragonite and Eric's Tyranitar. Andrew had already started working out his offensive strategy in his head before the next battle was up. He shared his thoughts on the strategy with Misty, who agreed that it would be useful, if not somewhat risky. A few matches later, it was Andrew and Misty's turn again.

"Up next we have team fourteen of William Silam and Brendan Willis against team eight of Misty Waterflower and Andrew Masako." The announcer's voice boomed, and the crowd erupted in cheer once again. Andrew and Misty were determined to have the first move in this battle. Throwing out their Pokéballs in perfect synchronism yet again, Andrew and Misty called out their Pokémon. Nidoking and Togetic appeared on the field, ready and waiting for battle. William called out a Magmar, while Brendan called a Charizard. Andrew whispered to Misty, "Let's give 'em some heat." "Sounds like a great idea, Andrew!"

Misty called to her Togetic, "Togetic, use Sunny Day!" and Andrew commanded, "Nidoking, Fire Blast!" Togetic floated high above the middle of the battlefield, and glowed orange as bright beams of sunshine struck the field. Nidoking charged forward and spit a flaming symbol towards the two Fire-type Pokémon at the other end of the field. "Dodge it!" was all that Andrew heard the two opponent trainers say as the Fire Blast attack hit the ground in front of the fire Pokémon, and instead of exploding, whipped into a monstrous tornado of raging flames, engulfing both the Magmar and Charizard. When the flames dissipated, the two Pokémon of the Fire type lied on the ground, burnt, blackened, and out of the battle. "A fiery combination of attacks by Andrew and Misty! Let's hear it for them!" the announcer boomed, and the cheers of thousands of spectators again filled the area. Andrew and Misty again bowed to the spectators before leaving the battlefield.

Some battles later, it was again Ash and Brock's turn to battle again. This time, they faced a Quagsire and a Marshtomp. Onix was quick to fall under the combined attacks of Surf and Earthquake. Pikachu didn't last much longer, since its opponents were unharmed by even its strongest Thunder attacks. Dejected, Ash and Brock returned to their seats in the stands, while the battles continued on.

Garrett and Eric's next battle was another landslide victory. They both bowed at the end of their battle, and Andrew winced. "How dare you mock Misty and I!" Andrew shouted at the two trainers, after Garrett looked in Andrew's direction and gave a sinister smirk. Andrew sat back down in his seat with an infuriated expression that he rarely carried. He shot a look over to Misty, and said quickly, "I'm going to change my strategy. I want them humiliated. Completely humiliated."

Andrew and Misty's next battle came up. It was against team 22, Otto Hyinda and Lenny Retta. Faced with a Scizor and a Spinarak, Andrew made sure that Nidoking and Togetic made short work of them; entangling them both in Spinarak's own String Shot with Togetic's Psychic, and Nidoking's flamethrower cooked the two Pokémon into another quick victory for Andrew and Misty. They humbly bowed as the crowd cheered them on like before.

After another loop of battles, Garrett and Eric showed no signs of faltering in their next battle whatsoever. Now there was only one battle left. "This is it, folks! The flawless team twelve of Garrett Von Hilden and Eric Memmet goes up against the also flawless team eight of Misty Waterflower and Andrew Masako! This match could very easily be the most intense of the whole competition!" The announcer's words and the cheering of the crowds faded into background noise to Andrew, the only sounds reaching him being that of Misty's voice or the voice in Andrew's head. The toss-up was decided. Garrett and Eric were to make the first move. Synchronized, they threw their Pokéballs into the arena, bringing out Dragonite and Tyranitar. Andrew and Misty threw their Pokéballs in synchronous as well, calling out Nidoking and Togetic.

Garrett and Eric didn't waste any time in calling out a Hyperbeam attack from both Dragonite and Tyranitar. "Protect!" Misty and Andrew shouted in unison. Nidoking and Togetic assumed defensive positions and began to glow just before the glowing yellow blasts of energy swerved, then hit the ground and exploded, covering the field in smoke. "Nidoking, Blizzard!" Andrew called, and the smoke was quickly swept away as a chilling wind swept the battlefield and began to freeze everything around, including Tyranitar and Dragonite. When the attack ceased, the two Pokémon sat as frozen blocks in front of their egotistical trainers. "Togetic, use Metronome!" Misty called. Togetic began to wave its small arms back and forth, and they began to glow.

When Togetic stuck its arms forward, an explosion occurred between the two frozen opponents, once again covering the field in smoke. The smoke was blown away by a breeze, leaving Tyranitar and Dragonite lying on the ground, beaten and battered. "Get up!" Garrett and Eric pleaded desperately to their Pokémon. Slowly, Tyranitar began to climb to its feet, followed shortly after by Dragonite. "Nidoking, Thrash." "Togetic, use Solarbeam!" Nidoking charged over to the two weak Pokémon, and pummeled them mercilessly while Togetic charged her Solarbeam attack. Nidoking then threw both of his opponents into the center of the battlefield, where Togetic delivered the final blow as she unleashed her Solarbeam attack.

The referee ran over to the two Pokémon lying in the center of the arena, and held up the green flag in his hand. "Tyranitar and Dragonite are unable to battle! The match and competition go to Andrew Masako and Misty Waterflower!" The crowd's cheers degenerated into one overwhelming din as the announcer exclaimed, "Misty Waterflower and Andrew Masako have won the competition! Through an impressive display of teamwork and strength, their Pokémon have shown us what it takes to be the best here today, folks!" Andrew and Misty once again bowed proudly. Andrew looked over at Garrett, who was looking at him disgustedly. Andrew gave a sinister smirk as he was bowed over. A minute later, another voice came onto the loudspeaker in the arena. "Hey everybody! I'm the field side reporter, and I'm going to let you in on the opinions of those that battled here in this final round! First up will be Garrett and Eric." Andrew saw a man holding a microphone running up to Garret and Eric. The man's words were played through the loudspeakers in the arena. "So, guys, what did it feel like having your rear ends handed to you on a silver platter in this round?"

Garrett and Eric were also displayed on the large screens on the sides of the arena. Garrett snobbishly turned up his chin, uttering only a "Humph" to the reporter. Eric only said, "No comment." The man then ran over the field towards Misty and Andrew, and said excitedly, "And here I present the winners of the competition, Misty Waterflower and Andrew Masako! Let's hear it for them!" The reporter held the microphone towards the crowd, whose unified sound only cancelled itself out in the loudspeakers. "Great!" said the man. "Now, guys, I must say, that was totally amazing! What do you think it was that led to their swift and brutal defeat?" Andrew took the microphone, and said, "Their biggest mistake was probably mocking Misty and me earlier. If there's one thing I can absolutely not stand, it is being insulted." Andrew handed the microphone to Misty, who smiled and said, "Yeah, he wasn't too fond of having us mocked. I could tell that the only thing on his mind was finding the perfect way of getting them back for it, and this was it." Misty handed the microphone back to the reporter, who said, "Wow! Humiliated that much for being mocked? I certainly wouldn't want to cross paths with him on a bad day, that's for sure!"

After a few minutes passed, the crowd's cheering died down, and the competitors sat calmly in the reserved area, all except for Garrett and Eric, who had rushed their Pokémon out to the nearest Nurse Joy they could find. Andrew and Misty were standing on a raised platform in the center of the arena, and were given large trophies for their victory. When confronted with the issue of the prize money, Andrew and Misty had announced that they would be donating it to the Centers for the Care and Treatment of Lost and Abandoned Pokémon. As Andrew and Misty held their personal and shared trophies high in the air, the crowd cheered once more for their victory in the competition. When Andrew and Misty stepped down from the platform, the announcer introduced Lorelei, who would be demonstrating various Pokémon techniques and strategies, and holding demonstrational battles for those interested.

Lorelei began her speech to the audience with some advice on raising Pokémon to be strong and aggressive battlers. As Andrew sat absorbing as much of Lorelei's information as he could, Misty hung over the railing in front of them, idolizing Lorelei and clinging onto her every word. As Lorelei concluded her speech, she took out a note card and announced that she would be calling down people for demonstrational battles. Name after name that she called stepped up to battle Lorelei, but almost all were knocked out within a few attacks, including Ash's Pikachu. As she finished reading off the names of her challengers, her eyebrow raised as she read the next line. "Well," she said with a start, "it seems that last on my list will be none other than Andrew Masako, one of the victors of this competition, and the only one to hold a flawless victory throughout the Pokémon League Championship as well!"

Andrew stood up from the seat, and walked down to the battlefield. "Well Andrew," Lorelei said, "It seems as though you've been training your Pokémon really hard. You did since day one, didn't you?" Andrew nodded. "Yes, I've always stuck with a daily training schedule that is very rigorous." "Well, Andrew, let's see how well your training has been going, then!" Lorelei threw a Pokéball onto the battlefield, releasing one of her stronger Pokémon, Cloyster, whom she hadn't called out up to this point. Andrew reached down to his belt, and picked off his most commonly used Pokéball. Throwing it into the field, he shouted, "Nidoking, go!" Nidoking appeared ready and waiting for battle.

Lorelei explained to the spectators that Andrew's Nidoking is part Ground type, so it would be very weak against Ice or Water type attacks. In an attempt to demonstrate this, she ordered Cloyster to use Ice Beam on Nidoking. Nidoking didn't even move when the attack hit, and a cloud of cold mist formed around Nidoking. When the mist cleared, Nidoking was completely encased in a block of ice, still in his original stance. Lorelei said to Andrew, "I know you haven't lost. Not here." Andrew was confused. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. "I know I haven't lost here."

As Andrew finished speaking, the ice surrounding Nidoking cracked and shattered, leaving Nidoking standing free as though he was never attacked at all. Lorelei smirked, and she quickly commanded Cloyster to Withdraw. "Nidoking, Thunder," Andrew said calmly, and Nidoking leaned back. When Nidoking lunged forward again, a great bolt of electricity shot from his horn, striking the immobile Cloyster. "When Cloyster's in his shell, not even electric attacks can hurt it!" Just then, the attack ceased, and Cloyster's shell split open, leaving Cloyster looking hurt as smoke rose from inside its shell. "Hmm," Andrew said, "It seems like it was hurt pretty badly even from within its shell." Lorelei wore an intrigued expression, and commanded, "Cloyster, use Aurora Beam!"

Cloyster leaned forward, and a glittering beam emanated from the horn above its head. The beam struck Nidoking, who barely even flinched during the entirety of the attack. "Nidoking, finish this one up. Iron Tail!" Nidoking charged toward Cloyster, and it quickly withdrew into its shell. It was smacked hard by Nidoking's Iron Tail attack, and Cloyster's shell wiggled, then split open. Cloyster had been knocked out. Gasps and then cheers ripped throughout the crowd as they watched one of the Elite Four's Pokémon get defeated. Lorelei stepped up towards Andrew, smiled, and said, "Well, you're much stronger than I expected. Perhaps you do have what it takes to take on the Elite Four." Upon finishing her sentence to Andrew, she turned to the crowd and concluded her demonstrating for the day, and left the arena.

Andrew took a final bow to the crowd, who erupted into a cheer one last time as Andrew walked back to his seat. The announcer called for all the competitors to walk onto the field and take a final bow to the crowd one last time. As Andrew stood back up, he looked over to Misty and smiled. He noticed a pair of familiar figures standing beside Misty, and walked over to them, saying, "I thought you ran off to get your Pokémon treated." "We did," Garrett said, "we ran back because we wanted to at least be at the closing of the competition. I didn't see Lorelei's demonstration battles, but I'm sure she made mincemeat out of your Nidoking!" Misty stepped towards Garrett, and said, "Actually, Lorelei's Cloyster was defeated just like your Dragonite was." Eric shouted angrily, "You actually expect us to believe that? Lorelei is one of the Elite Four!"

Other pairs of trainers nearby heard Eric's shouting, and one trainer responded, "It's true. Cloyster's attacks didn't even make Nidoking twitch!" "Yeah," the other trainer in the pair added, "and Nidoking took Cloyster down in two attacks!" Garrett uttered another "Humph," walked over to the judge, and said something to him. As Garrett walked back, the judge held a hand up to his ear and said something while nodding.

"Well, folks, it appears that we have an odd request from one of the trainers who missed Elite Four Lorelei's last demonstration battle against Andrew Masako. So, for those that missed it the first time, or just want to see it again, here's a rerun of the battle between Andrew and Lorelei!" the announcer's voice blared. Garrett stood next to Eric, and turned to face the arena screen where the video of Andrew and Lorelei's battle was being replayed.

As the video showed Nidoking frozen in ice, Garrett chuckled to himself. When Nidoking broke out of the ice, and began his counterattack, Garrett began to lose his smug expression. When the video clip ended, Garrett and Eric quickly spun around to face Andrew. They bowed and apologized quickly and nervously. "Just keep this in mind, guys," Andrew began, "Karmic justice is swift and venomous." Garrett and Eric nodded nervously, and ran off as the trainers and spectators began to file out of the arena. Andrew stayed on the battlefield as it emptied out. Misty was right by his side, knowing why Andrew was still in the arena. Andrew gazed around at the empty arena and equally deserted stands. As he breathed in the air, he exhaled slowly, speaking quietly, "I love the smell of the air after a good day's battling."

Misty also looked around the arena, and said mildly, "I know how you feel, Andrew." Andrew looked over at her, and smiled, saying, "It's this feeling that keeps my battling spirit ablaze. Without it, I don't know what I would do." Andrew's expression softened slightly as Misty nodded, smiling. "_Yes, this feeling,_" Andrew thought, "_Of your presence._" Andrew closed his eyes and looked towards the ground for a short time. He took a deep breath, looked forward, and said to Misty, "All right! Let's head home." Misty nodded, and together they walked out of the arena.

As soon as Andrew stepped outside, a swarm of reporters hurried over to him, asking him dozens questions at once. Among the miniature universe of questions, Andrew distinctly heard questions such as, "Mister Masako, How do you feel about your battle today?"

"Do you intend on defeating the Elite Four in the near future?"

"What are you planning to do between now and the next League-sanctioned competition?"

Andrew was used to being bombarded with a slew of questions, since reporters always loved to get the scoop on Andrew's victories, especially after major competitions. He kept a cheery face as he pushed through the reporters towards his car, keeping a hold on Misty's hand. Reporters have an awkward tendency to try and get Andrew alone, and attempt to interview any friends or partners of his separately, so Andrew made sure that Misty wouldn't get swept away in the tide of reporters. As he reached his car, Misty quickly climbed in, switching over to the passenger's side seat. Andrew turned around, and began to address the reporters, who had immediately silenced, holding out dozens of microphones towards Andrew. "All I can say is, I've had a rather exciting day. But now, I must head out and formulate strategies for my future battles." The reporters quickly snapped several photos, and one reporter with a very nasal voice loudly questioned, "Mister Masako! Rumors have been going around that you and Miss Waterflower have been engaged in a secret relationship for some time. Is this true?"

Andrew held up his hands defensively, and said loudly, "No more questions; I'm headed away from here now." As Andrew finished his sentence, the reporters began asking more questions, despite what Andrew had just said. The reporters' questions went ignored as Andrew climbed into the car, and shut the door. "I can't stand reporters," Andrew said angrily as he started the car, "Can you believe that they think we're secretly romantically involved? Lunatics, all of them." Pulling out of the parking lot, several reporters stepped in his path to take photos of Andrew and Misty in the car. He swerved around them, and pulled away from the competition grounds.

As he drove, Andrew noticed that he was being followed by a news van. When Andrew pulled over to the side of the road, the news van passed, and stopped further ahead on the road. As Andrew stepped out of his car, he saw a reporter jump out of the back of the van. Angry, Andrew stomped up to the reporter, and shouted in his face, "I have a right to my privacy! Leave me alone before I have to let your boss know about this!" Frightened, the reporter quickly ran back into the van, slamming the rear doors. The van then promptly turned around and sped off.

Giving a "Humph," Andrew walked back to the car, and sat down. He gave a long sigh, before closing the door, and continuing along the road towards Cerulean City. "You sure do have a way of dealing with reporters, don't you Andrew?" Misty said with a chuckle. Andrew chuckled as well, saying, "You know how much reporters annoy me. Besides, I'm getting really tired of being bombarded with questions. Unfounded rumors, opinions on the battles, future plans… ugh, it annoys me to absolutely no end. The only questions I take the time to answer are those concerning the people that look up to me." "Yeah," Misty said, "I know what you mean. There are a lot of people who look up to you." "And I don't want to disappoint them," Andrew continued, "Or make them seem as though I don't care."

As they neared Cerulean City, Andrew asked Misty, "So, planning on spending the night at your house?"

"If you mean spending the night with my bubble-headed sisters, then yeah."

"Oh come on now, Misty. You know that your sisters use their brains…" Andrew paused. "…sometimes."

Misty laughed as Andrew entered the city. The sun had already begun to disappear behind the horizon. When Andrew pulled up to the parking lot near the Gym, Misty opened the car door and stepped out. She turned around and said, "See you tomorrow Andrew!" and closed the door. Andrew watched her walk into the Gym, and when she disappeared from sight, he let out a long sigh. He sat motionless for a few seconds, then pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards his own home. As he drove across the orange landscape, Andrew wasn't able to shake the thoughts of Misty from his mind. It was a problem that had slowly been creeping up on him since when he first met her. At first, they were just idle thoughts. Now, they were beginning to latch firmly in Andrew's mind, and he was unable to simply shrug them off anymore. Every time he blinked, he saw her smiling face.

The first stars were appearing in the sky as Andrew pulled his car into the garage. When he turned off the car's engine, he sat back in his seat for a few minutes with his eyes closed. Slowly, the flood of thoughts about Misty began to drain from his mind, and he climbed out of the car. He opened the front door and stepped into the house, quickly slipping off his sneakers, and kicking them into an empty space in the shoe rack. He walked over to the couch, and heavily sat down into it, leaning his head against the back. As the thoughts of Misty continued to parade around his mind, Andrew gave another long sigh. His entranced state was quickly broken when Rebecca's Oddish leapt up onto Andrew's knee.

Andrew looked down, and said, "Hey Oddish. Where's mom at?" "Right over here," Rebecca said, walking down the stairs, "I was wondering when you'd get home."

"Yeah, it was a long day."

"I know; I recorded it onto DVD."

"Cool."

"You know, Andrew…"

"Yeah, mom?"

"It just seems to me that you seem to like Misty a whole lot."

"Not this again."

"I'm serious. You seem to do everything together, and you always seem different when she isn't around."

"I just care about her a lot. You know how good of a friend she is."

"Yeah, but something's telling me that you like her for more than just a friend."

"Like I said—"

"Tell me something. Why is it that you two seem so comfortable _bathing_ together?"

"You've forgotten again? All right, look. First off, we don't bathe _together_ per se, but we're not uncomfortable bathing while the other is so close by. It's not like we watch each other bathe or anything. Anyway, it was during that one week that we were always in such a hurry. We didn't have enough time to wait around for the other to finish using the bathroom. After that week, we found that it saved us a lot of time each morning, so we just kept doing it, and eventually got comfortable with it."

"Oh yes, now I remember that. But it just seems that you'd have to be really good friends to do something like that, you know."

"We are really good friends, isn't that what I've been saying all along?"

"Oh, never mind. I'm not going to get anywhere like this."

Andrew sighed, and leaned his head on the back of the couch again. "Lately though," Andrew said calmly, "She's been on my mind… a lot." Rebecca nodded, saying, "I had a feeling. I know you think about her a lot; I can see it in your eyes." Andrew looked over at Rebecca, and continued the conversation.

"I just don't know what to think. Every time she's around, or that I know she's there, I just feel so much more confident about everything I do. She's on my mind just about every minute that she's not there, and it gets really distracting. I dream about her at least once every other night, and it's usually nights that she isn't here. I just don't know."

"Hmm…"

"And I feel like I would do anything for her, as well."

"Indeed; remember that time that you broke that one man's hand?"

"And his lower arm. And the bastard deserved it, too! No man should ever hit a woman!"

"Do also remember that the woman he hit was Misty."

"…you're right. Now that you mention it, I should have broken the rest of his arm."

"You know what I think, Andrew?"

"What would that be?"

"I think that you're in love."

"And what would you know about love in my life?"

"The symptoms are blatantly obvious. You're always thinking about her, you always want to have her close, and you'd obviously go against your own nature for her. After all, you're not the type to injure somebody."

"Well, you are right about that, I suppose. But I just don't know."

"I think you should let her know."

"But what am I going to say? What about if she doesn't feel the same way I do? I'm afraid that it would ruin our friendship."

"Give it a while. I'm sure that sooner or later you'll make some sense of your feelings."

"Very well, then. I'm going to bathe, and I'll give it some thought."

"All right, you do that. I'll let you know when dinner is ready."

Andrew nodded and said "thanks," in a low tone, and stood up. Making his way up the stairs and across the raised path, he stopped as the path split to the right. Looking towards the guest room, Andrew couldn't help but consider it to be Misty's room, since she was the only one who had actually used it. He walked over to the room, and stepped inside. The room itself was about the same size as Andrew's room, but with white walls and a beige carpet. The bed in the room had an ocean blue blanket on it, Misty's favorite color. Andrew closed his eyes, and took a deep breath of the air in the room through his nose. The scent of Misty's favorite perfume filled Andrew's nostrils, and he exhaled slowly. He walked over to the window and looked at Mt. Moon, which was illuminated by the glow of the rising moon, as the last bits of violet in the sky faded behind the mountain. Andrew closed his eyes, and sighed longingly. As he continued to stare at the mountain, with the snow on its peak seeming to glow, he heard the sound of the door opening and closing downstairs.

Andrew walked out of the room, and looked out the front window of the house to see Rebecca's car leaving the garage. He walked downstairs, and into the kitchen, to see that the dinner that Rebecca was making was still in the oven. He checked the oven timer, and found that there was still another hour left for whatever she was making. He guessed that Rebecca probably forgot something, and left to get it before dinner was ready. Andrew walked back upstairs, and down the path towards the bathroom. He was slow to pull out the seat and water basin, his mind focused on other things. He began to wash himself. He couldn't seem to get the thoughts of Misty out of his mind. As he finished, and was rinsing the soap off of the water basin, he heard the door again open and close. Andrew thought that he had either taken a really quick shower, or that Rebecca had taken a lot longer than she should have taken to pick up a few things from the store.

Andrew shrugged off his thoughts, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked over to the hot water tub, and slowly sunk into it. As he was relaxing, he heard voices coming from downstairs. He couldn't make out what either of the voices was saying, but it was obvious that one voice belonged to Rebecca. Failing to make any sense of the muffled conversation from downstairs, Andrew leaned his head on the rim of the tub and closed his eyes. As his mind drifted from one thought of Misty to the next, Andrew heard a knock on the bathroom door that startled him. "Yes," he asked loudly, "who is it?"

"Its me," Andrew heard the voice from the other side say. He knew almost instantaneously that it was Misty. "Come in," Andrew replied, as Misty opened the door. Turning to look over to her, Andrew stated, "I thought you were spending the night at your house." Misty closed the bathroom door behind her, saying, "I was. That is, until your mother stopped by the Gym and asked me to come over." "So that's where she went," Andrew said, though he was also thinking, "_Please don't tell me that she's trying to play matchmaker._" "Yeah," Misty replied, "she told me that she wanted me to come over."

Misty turned around, and Andrew saw her take off her small denim jacket, exposing the back of the white shirt underneath. Andrew promptly turned around, knowing full well that Misty had intentions of taking a bath while she was here. He heard the seat and basin being set up, and waited patiently for Misty to finish bathing. When Andrew felt the water in the tub begin to shift, he looked over and watched Misty's thin and towel-wrapped body slowly ease its way into the tub. He couldn't help but blush and smile warmly as he thought about Misty being so close to him. Misty let out a relaxed sigh as she became comfortable with the water temperature.

"So," Andrew began, "did my mother say why she wanted you to come over?"

"Yes. She told me that you were acting differently, and that you sounded a bit depressed when you talked to her. So she asked me to come over to cheer you up."

"How thoughtful of her."

"She also told me that you two had been talking for a little while after you got home."

"Uh, she did?"

"Yeah, she told me that you said that you had been thinking about me a lot. Is this true?"

"Well," Andrew started, then blushed, and gave a long sigh, finally saying, "Look, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. It just wouldn't seem right for me to be dishonest to you."

"So, have you been thinking about me?"

Andrew stayed silent for a moment, and then finally said, "Yes, I have been thinking about you."

"A lot?"

"Put it this way, if you're not here in person, you're always on my mind."

Andrew looked down at the water and away from Misty for a while. He sunk himself into the tub until the water was just below his chin. No words were exchanged for several minutes. Eventually, Andrew exited the tub, switched to a dry towel, and walked over to his room. When he stood up from the tub, he noticed that Misty had also seemed to be in deep thought over the situation, since she was looking down and away from his position. He quietly switched to his yukata, walked to his room, and sat down on his sofa. His room was warm, and felt that way to Andrew, regardless of the calming cool hues of color throughout the room. Andrew closed his eyes and leaned his head on the back of the sofa.

Andrew hadn't even been on his sofa for what felt like 30 seconds before he heard Rebecca shouting "dinner's ready!" from the floor below. "Oh yeah," Andrew said quietly and in monotone to himself, "I completely forgot about dinner." He sat up, and walked over to his dresser. He quickly exchanged his yukata for some underclothing, jeans, and a shirt. He stepped out of his room, and walked down the path towards the stairs. As he passed the guest room, he saw that the door was closed. Sighing, he continued down the stairs toward the dining room. Misty and Rebecca were already sitting at the table, where Rebecca had begun dishing out the servings of lasagna she had made. Andrew took a seat, and waited until Rebecca and Misty had started eating before readying a bite of his lasagna piece.

Through the entirety of dinner, not a single word had been spoken by anybody. "Is something wrong, you guys?" Rebecca asked, "You haven't said a word all dinner." "I'm fine," both Andrew and Misty said in unison and in monotone. Andrew continued to look down at his plate, as he had been doing the whole way through dinner. "You both look like you've got something on your minds," Rebecca said calmly. Andrew muttered "meh," in an agreeing, but somewhat disinterested tone. Misty said "kinda," in the same monotone way as when she had spoken before. "I see. What is it that you've been thinking about?" Rebecca asked. Her question was met with silence. "I understand," said Rebecca, "if you want to talk about it, we can do so out in the living room. If not, then that's fine with me too."

Andrew finished eating his lasagna, took the dish and fork he was using, and rinsed them in the kitchen sink. He turned around, walked out of the kitchen, past the couch in the living room, and upstairs. He walked over to his bedroom door, but stopped and instead sat down in front of it. He heard the chairs that Misty and Rebecca were sitting in shifting along the floor. A few moments after a clang of dishes and a rush of water, Andrew heard the sound of Rebecca and Misty sitting down on one of the couches in the living room. Andrew closed his eyes and leaned his head against the door as conversation initiated downstairs.

"So, Misty, tell me what's going on?"

"Well, I went upstairs and talked with Andrew like you had asked me to."

"Okay, so what's troubling you?"

"_I figured she was going to try and play matchmaker,_" Andrew thought as he continued to listen to the conversation downstairs.

"Well, I talked to him about the conversation that you and he had earlier. I asked him about how often he thought about me."

"What did he say?"

"The first thing he told me was that he wasn't going to be dishonest to me at all. Then, he told me that… whenever I wasn't with him… that he was… that I was always… on his mind."

Andrew heard the way that Misty was explaining what he had said. She seemed to be hesitant to say what Andrew had said to her. It sounded to Andrew as though she where trying to hide something, or stifle some kind of emotion. "_Oh Misty,_" Andrew thought, "_Please don't be sad._"

"That's what he told me, too."

"I know… It just… got me thinking…"

"Thinking about what?"

"About all the time… that we had been spending… together."

"_Together…_" Andrew thought.

"And… I started thinking about how much… he showed that he cared for me…"

"…_more than life itself…_"

"Every time… that I was hurt or sad or in trouble… he was always right there for me…"

"You two do spend a lot of time together; you always did."

"Yeah… I… we were…"

Andrew heard the sound of Misty sniffle, and he lowered his head. "_Oh Misty…_" Andrew kept thinking over and over.

"Its okay, Misty."

"_Don't cry…_"

"I know…"

"Misty, tell me what you think about Andrew. How do you feel about him?"

"I… I don't know… I've never felt like this before, though…"

"Do you think about him a lot?"

"Yes… I do… Almost as much as he says he thinks of me…"

Andrew gave a silent sigh.

"And… I care about him…"

"Have you ever cared about anybody else in the same way?"

"…No… I haven't… Do you think… that I'm…?"

Andrew quickly opened his eyes, and leaned over until he could see Misty on the couch below. Her eyes were glossy, and a small glint of light came from her cheek. Andrew could tell that Misty had been crying during most of the conversation. Misty sniffled again, and turned to Rebecca.

"Do… you think… that I'm… in love with him?"

There was silence for several moments, broken only by a small sniffle from Misty. Andrew saw Rebecca sit down next to Misty, and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Yes, Misty… I do think you might be in love with him."

Andrew sat back up, closed his eyes tightly, and looked towards the floor. He could feel his eyes becoming moist. When he opened his eyes, his view was blurred and shaky. A drop fell onto Andrew's hand, as his thoughts were scrambled in a rush of emotion. He felt a cold streak run down the side of his face. His nose felt stuffy, and he sniffled. He wiped away the tear that had run down his face, only to have it immediately replaced by another. Andrew tried to hold back the tears, but to no avail. Andrew stood up and began walking towards the stairs, as he heard Rebecca say, "I think you should go and talk with him again, and tell him how you feel."

Andrew quickly walked down the stairs, his view blurry, making it difficult for him to see. Misty had only just reached near the bottom of the stairs as Andrew quickly and wordlessly approached. She only managed to say "Andrew…" before he quickly walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. Misty had been taken by surprise, but shortly after returned Andrew's sudden embrace. They stood together, both sobbing uncontrollably, embraced in one another's arms. Misty was letting the shoulder of Andrew's shirt absorb her tears. Minutes seemed to pass in silence, before Andrew finally said between sobs, "Misty… I think… that I love you, too…"

Misty began to say "Oh Andrew." Though Misty's words were stifled by Andrew's shoulder, he knew what she was saying, and replied, "It's alright. I heard what you were saying down here. I wasn't sure how I felt about you either… but now I suppose I know. I just… wasn't sure at the time… because I didn't know how you felt." Misty and Andrew stayed embraced for several minutes, slowly swaying back and forth as if some outside force were compelling them to. Eventually, their tears stopped flowing, but they held together. Misty had her head on Andrew's shoulder as though it were a pillow.

Eventually, Rebecca spoke up. "So, I take it that you both are at peace with how you feel now?" Andrew pulled away from Misty slightly, while Misty and Andrew turned their heads to look over at Rebecca. Both smiling warmly, they nodded in unison. Misty walked over to Rebecca, and gave her a hug, saying, "Thank you so much, Rebecca!" When Misty pulled away from Rebecca, Andrew also walked up and gave her a hug, saying, "You're the best mom in the world. Thank you so much!"

Rebecca took a look at the clock on a nearby wall. "Oh my," she said, "it's already ten thirty!" "Well," Andrew started, "it was quite a long day, and I'm really tired. I'm going to head to bed. Thanks again for everything, mom!" Andrew walked up the stairs as Misty again thanked Rebecca. He stopped to wait for her at the split in the path towards the guest room. She gave him another hug when she walked up to him, then walked into her room. She turned and said, "Good night Andrew, see you tomorrow!" and closed the door. Andrew gave a long and satisfied sigh, before going into his room. He changed back into his evening wear, checked the alarm, and climbed into bed. He gave one last sigh before laying his head on the pillow. He fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.


	5. Unwinding

**Chapter 5: Unwinding**

Love. Andrew reached for his alarm clock and shut it off. He sat up in his bed, a goofy and lopsided smile on his face. Throughout the entirety of the night, he had been dreaming of the moments he had shared with Misty the night before. He stood from his bed, and walked out of his room. Before knocking on the guest room door, he walked into the bathroom. He looked at the folded clean laundry, and found the white shirt that he had been wearing yesterday, as well as the denim jacket that Misty had been wearing as well, in addition to the rest of the clothes they had been wearing the day before. This was all the proof that Andrew needed to let him know that the previous day hadn't been a dream. He smiled as he walked out of the bathroom and back towards the guest room.

Knocking on the door twice, Andrew heard Misty call "come in," from the other side. He turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Misty was sitting up in the bed, smiling brightly to Andrew. Andrew smiled back, and walked over to the bed. As Andrew sat down on the bed, Misty reached over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Andrew wrapped his right arm around Misty's back while he gently stroked her shoulder with his right hand. "Good morning, Andrew," Misty said gently into Andrew's shoulder. "Good morning, Misty," Andrew replied.

"And good morning to the both of you," Rebecca said from the door. Andrew and Misty quickly turned to face her, and they both said, "Good morning," in unison. Rebecca had apparently woken up recently as well, since she was still in her lavender yukata. Andrew stood up from the bed, and put his right hand out to Misty. Misty grabbed onto Andrew's hand, and he helped pull her up from the bed, though she was perfectly capable of getting out of the bed by herself. They began walking towards Rebecca, who was still standing at the door, smiling as she looked at the couple. Rebecca turned and walked out of the door, followed by Andrew and Misty, who were still holding each other's hand.

Rebecca walked down the stairs as Andrew and Misty walked toward the bathroom for their normal routine of brushing their teeth. When they were done brushing, Andrew walked out of the bathroom as Misty went into the changing room. Andrew headed back to his room to check his email. Finding only one email of importance, he read it, and passed some time by reading and replying to emails sent from fans. After about 15 minutes, Andrew shut his laptop off, and walked over to the bathroom. He walked into the changing room, and knocked on the door twice. "Its okay," he heard Misty say. He undressed, grabbed a blue towel, hung it over his shoulder, and walked into the bathing room. Andrew looked over to the tub, and saw Misty's beautiful blue green eyes looking at him.

Andrew jumped back behind the door to the changing room, shouting, "Whoa!" He looked around the edge of the door and saw that Misty was still looking vacantly in his direction, smiling. Blushing furiously, Andrew shouted nervously, "Misty! What do you think you're doing?!" Misty blinked as her expression went blank. "Huh?" she asked, "What's wrong?" "What's wrong?" Andrew said, "You were looking at me, that's what's wrong!" "Oh my goodness!" Misty said, quickly turning around in the tub and lowering herself into the water, "I'm so sorry!" Andrew chuckled nervously, and walked back into the bathing room, closing the door behind him. "I was daydreaming," Misty said nervously, "I didn't see anything, I swear!" Andrew began setting up the seat and basin, and said playfully, "Just don't do that again!"

Andrew washed himself, keeping the back of Misty's head in the corner of his eye the entire time. When he finished washing, he rinsed himself off, and wrapped a towel around him. Stepping into the tub, he noticed that Misty was still up to her chin in the water, and carrying a guilty expression on her face. Andrew put his arm around Misty's shoulders, and pulled her closer to him. "It's okay," he said, "It was an honest mistake." Misty looked over to him, and smiled warmly. She rolled towards Andrew slightly, and put her arms around him. They floated slightly and into the corner of the tub, where Andrew kept himself propped up as Misty rested against him.

"You sure do like hugs, don't you, Misty?"

"Yeah. I haven't been hugged much during my life," Misty said with her eyes closed, her head resting on Andrew's chest above the water.

"I know how you feel. I haven't been hugged much either. At least, not by anybody else other than my mother. It's a good feeling."

"Yeah…"

Andrew and Misty both sighed as they relaxed in the hot water, while also embraced in one another's arms. Andrew leaned his head against the edge of the tub, and closed his eyes. Time seemed insignificant to both Andrew and Misty, and neither of them moved much at all. A knock on the bathing room door broke both Misty and Andrew's entranced state. "Okay you two lovebirds," Rebecca's voice came form the other side of the door, "You've been in there for more than an hour and your breakfast is almost ready." "Okay mom," Andrew shouted to Rebecca, and he heard her leave the bathroom. Andrew looked down to Misty, and she turned her head up to look into his eyes. The ambient sounds of the room faded away from Andrew's ears as he gazed into Misty's beautiful blue green eyes. Misty began to blush, and slowly, she lifted herself out of the water. She pulled her arms from behind Andrew's back, though Andrew still had his arms around Misty's back. Misty leaned closer to Andrew. Misty replaced her arms behind Andrew's neck, and pulled herself closer to him.

"Misty, are you—" Andrew began to say softly, before Misty's lips met his. Andrew looked upwards slightly before his eyes closed. He tightened his grip behind Misty's back, drawing her body closer to his. Misty also tightened her grip behind Andrew's neck. Andrew could feel his face begin to feel hot, and feel his heart beating in his chest. Time, touch, sound, smell, everything faded away from Andrew, and all he could feel was the presence of himself and Misty, together in their first kiss. Misty pulled away from Andrew's face, and he opened his eyes to look into hers.

Misty seemed to be breathing heavier than normal. She had apparently begun to run out of breath. Andrew couldn't help but smile warmly as he looked into her eyes. He moved his right hand up to Misty's face and moved away some of her hair, before cradling the side of her face in his palm. "Oh, Misty…" he said, before pulling her back to him, and kissing her again. What seemed like hours later, Andrew pulled away from Misty, saying softly, "I love you, Misty." "And I love you, Andrew," Misty replied. Misty slowly stood in the tub, Andrew's hand sliding down her arm, and gripping her hand. She began to walk to the center of the bathing room, Andrew let Misty's hand slide from his grip. Misty turned and smiled to Andrew, who smiled back. Andrew closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and looked away from Misty as she removed her pink towel and left the bathroom. When Misty left the bathroom completely, Andrew left the tub as well. He wrung out the soaked towel, and walked into the changing room, where he tossed the damp towel into the laundry bin, and dried himself with a fresh blue towel.

Andrew wrapped the towel around his waist, and walked to his room with his head in the clouds. When he entered his room, he closed the door and walked over to the dresser. He chose his cologne carefully, thinking about which one Misty would prefer the most. He eventually picked one, put it on, and applied his underarm deodorant. Somebody knocked on Andrew's door, and he walked over and opened it just enough to see who it was. It was Misty, who was still wrapped from armpit to knee in a dry pink towel. "Yes?" Andrew asked. "Hey, I was just wondering," Misty started, "What were you planning on wearing today?" "I'm not sure yet," Andrew replied, "Probably my navy blue today." "Okay then!" Misty said cheerfully, and she walked quickly back to the guest room."

Andrew closed the door, and walked over to his dresser, and dressed. He wore more formal navy blue pants that were kept neat and ironed. His shirt was a common tee that was the same shade of blue as his pants. Out of his closet he pulled his navy blue trench coat, which was lined with white on the inside. He turned the wrist cuffs over, exposing the white inside, and buttoned them to the sleeve. He straightened the collar of the coat, and walked out of his room. He waited near the guest room door. After a short while, the door opened and Misty stepped out of the room. She was wearing a pair of stiff shorts that came halfway down her thigh, and a small jacket closed over a white tee, the sleeves and collar of which were visible, coming out a short distance from areas that the jacket wasn't covering.

"You know, Misty," Andrew started, "You have a lot of outfits that match mine. I just now noticed this." Misty looked down at her outfit, and then to Andrew's outfit. "You're right," Misty replied, "I guess we were showing interest in each other for longer than we thought, huh?" "Yeah," Andrew said, as he leaned towards Misty, and gave her a short kiss. She returned his kiss with a short hug, and together, they walked down the stairs.

They walked into the dining room, where fortunately, Rebecca was just getting around to serving their breakfast. Andrew and Misty did more talking than eating, which was a huge change from the discomforting silence of dinner the previous night, and tears of longing afterward were replaced by warm smiles from warm hearts. Once breakfast was finished, the conversations continued on the couches in the living room. Some time later, Andrew remembered something that was said the day before, and turned to Misty. "Oh! I almost forgot," he said, "Ash and Brock said that they were down in Pallet." "Oh, you're right!" Misty replied, "They asked us to come and visit for a while!" "Well then," Rebecca said, "don't let me hold you up." She added with a chuckle, "And maybe you can tell them the good news, if you know what I mean."

Misty and Andrew laughed while standing up from the couch that they were sitting together on. They walked out of the house, putting on their white sneakers on the way out. Andrew opened the door to his truck, and stepped in. Misty hopped into the tall truck from the other side, and centered herself on the large red velvet seat. Andrew turned the ignition key, and the engine of the truck roared as it turned on. Andrew pressed the garage door button he had installed in the truck, and the garage door opened. Andrew skillfully moved the gearshift into proper location, and pulled out of the garage and out of the driveway. Driving along the road, Andrew shifted gears again. "I love driving stick," Andrew said wholeheartedly, "It just gives such a feeling of power and control. It's great!"

As they continued down the road, Misty turned to Andrew and asked, "Hey, would it be alright if we stopped by the Gym before we go to Pallet?"

"Sure thing, Misty. Something you wanted before we left?"

"You'll see when we get there."

Minutes later, Andrew pulled up to the Cerulean Gym and turned off the ignition. Misty and Andrew jumped from the truck, and walked into the Gym. When they entered, Misty asked Andrew to sit on one of the seats in the lobby. Andrew took a seat, while Misty quickly walked off down the hall towards the feeding tanks of the Gym. Minutes later, Andrew was startled by an excited scream coming from down the hall, and heard footsteps. Seconds later, he saw Daisy running at full speed towards the double red doors, screaming "Misty's got a boyfriend!" repeatedly. Daisy quickly opened one of the red doors to the pool room, and ran in. Misty came walking up the hallway, and leaned against the wall. "All I needed to say were the words 'guy' and 'love'," she said with a chuckle. Andrew gave a chuckle, and replied, "That's probably the only words she actually heard anyway." Misty walked over to Andrew, and sat down next to him, giggling.

"Misty? A boyfriend? You're kidding!" Andrew and Misty heard from inside the pool room. Seconds later, all three of Misty's sisters charged out of the pool room and into the lobby. "Misty!" the three of them said in unison as soon as they saw her sitting on the seat. They hurried over to her, and sat down next to her on some empty space to her left. "So, like Misty," Violet began, but was cut off by Lily, who quickly asked, "You have a boyfriend? Are you, like, serious?!" Misty nodded calmly, and answered, "Yes." Daisy narrowed her eyes, and said, "Like, how does a scrawny runt like you get a boyfriend?" Misty growled slightly, and was about to say something, when Violet quickly asked, "So who is he? Is he, like, cute?" Misty's sisters fell silent at Violet's question, waiting impatiently for an answer. Misty seemed hesitant to answer, but then Andrew leaned forward, looked at Misty's sisters, and waved, smiling sheepishly.

The expressions on Misty's sisters' faces fell blank, and a second later, the three shouted "No way!" in unison. "Yep," Misty said proudly, "Andrew here is my boyfriend!" "Well, he is cute," Lily said. "But, how in the world can he, like, love somebody as scrawny and hotheaded as you?" Daisy said to Misty. "You do know that I'm right here," Andrew said angrily, "And I don't think she's scrawny or hotheaded at all." Violet shrugged, and said, "Well, there's, like, nothing we can do about how they feel about each other. I think they look kind of cute together." "Well," said Misty, standing up, "I just wanted to stop by and let you know. I'll tell you more about it later." Andrew stood up as well, while Lily said, "Alright." Daisy exclaimed, "And make sure you let us know every bit!" Violet merely nodded. As Andrew and Misty walked for the door, their hands were interlocked between them. "So cute together," Violet said one last time, before Andrew and Misty waved goodbye and walked out of the Gym.

Misty and Andrew climbed back into the truck, and as Andrew started the engine and shifted into gear, he commented, "So, that's what you wanted to stop by the Gym for." Misty said "yeah," as Andrew headed east out of Cerulean, towards Mt. Moon. "I still can't believe they still insult you," Andrew said in a frustrated tone. "It's okay," Misty said reassuringly, "They don't do it nearly as much as they used to, and I don't get as angry as I used to."

"Even still, they're how old now? Mid twenties, aren't they?"

"Well, Daisy is twenty six, but she swears she's not a day over twenty three."

"Just because she's seven years older than you doesn't give her the right to pick on you like that."

"She's been like that ever since I can remember."

"And she acts like she's still in high school. All three of them do."

"Old habits never die. Either that, or they put on too much anti-aging cream."

Andrew chuckled as he drove through a valley near Mt. Moon. He and Misty continued talking for the entirety of the drive to Pallet, over two hour's drive away from Cerulean. As Andrew came over the top of a large, round hill, a small town came into view. "Well," Andrew said, "Here we are, the quaint little town of Pallet." Andrew slowed the truck as he passed the houses, which were very spread out along a single, winding road. As Andrew passed the houses, Misty was looking around for the Ketchum residence. "There it is," Misty said, pointing to a small house at the end of the row.

Andrew pulled up to the house, and parked along the sidewalk in front of it. As Andrew turned the truck's engine off, a middle-aged woman stepped out of the house. The woman was Ash's mother, Delia Ketchum. Misty opened the door, and stepped out, and said to her, "Hi Mrs. Ketchum!" "Oh, hi Misty," Delia replied, "Who are you with?" Andrew stepped out of the truck, and leaned onto the hood, where Delia could see him. "Hi Mrs. Ketchum," he said. "Hi Andrew," she replied. "So," Misty asked, "Where are Ash and Brock? They asked us to come down when we met at the bay competition yesterday."

Delia pointed up the road, and said, "They're over at Professor Oak's place right now. I suppose you'll be going to meet up with them there." Andrew turned to Misty, and said, "I suppose she's right." Misty and Andrew again boarded the truck, and drove off to the home and laboratory of Professor Samuel Oak.

Andrew pulled up into Professor Oak's driveway, and shut off the truck's engine. Andrew clipped his keys to his belt, and stepped out of the truck, as Misty stepped out the other side. Andrew walked up to the door to the professor's home, and gave three sharp knocks upon it. Misty and Andrew stood and waited for about a minute, before they heard voices coming from around the side of the house. Andrew walked around to the side, to see Professor Oak talking with Ash and Brock. Andrew signaled for Misty to come over to him, and together they walked towards the group. Andrew raised his right hand into the air as he shouted, "Hey guys!"

Professor Oak turned around, as Ash and Brock looked over to Andrew and Misty as they approached. "Well hello you two," Professor Oak said calmly, "Ash told me that you would probably be coming down today." "Who's there, grandpa?" A nasal voice coming from a nearby door said. The owner of the voice stepped through the door, and it was Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandson. "Hey Gary," Andrew said, waving to get his attention. "Oh, Andrew," Gary said, "How have you been?"

"Same old, same old."

"Say, do you have your Pokémon with you?"

"Of course. Why?"

"You want to have a battle?"

"What? I thought you had decided to become a researcher."

"I did. I want to see how your Pokémon are performing in battle."

"You've battled me a dozen times before. You should already know how they perform."

"I want to gather statistical data this time. Before, I was just battling you to try and beat you."

"Ah, I see. Sure thing, whenever you're ready."

Gary ran inside the door he came out of, while Andrew picked his four Pokéballs off of his belt. He readied them, and tossed them away from the building. The four Pokémon appeared, standing in a group. Andrew walked up to them and said, "Okay guys, Gary Oak wants to have a battle with me to collect some statistical data." They nodded, as Gary rushed out of the door, carrying a pair of video cameras and a duffel bag.

Gary set the items he was carrying down in a small pile, thought for a moment, and then ran back into the building. Seconds later, he ran back out with a third video camera. "All right," Gary started, "This should be everything I'll need." He turned to Andrew, and said, "Let's go somewhere that's not so close to the lab. I don't want anything getting broken in there." Andrew nodded, as Gary lifted the duffel bag, and fumbled around while trying to pick up the three cameras. Andrew walked over to Gary, and grabbed two of the cameras. "Thanks," Gary said, picking up the third camera, and walking down a hill.

Misty jogged up next to Andrew, as Ash, Brock, Professor Oak, and Andrew's Pokémon followed close behind. They walked some distance away from the laboratory. Gary eventually stopped, and set the duffel bag and the camera he was carrying down on the ground. Andrew sat the other two cameras nearby. Gary quickly set the cameras up, pointing them towards one central point. He then opened the duffel bag, and pulled out a laptop. He also pulled out what looked like a miniature satellite dish, and a microphone. He connected the two devices to his laptop, and pressed some keys on the keyboard, as he sat in the grass. As Gary worked, Andrew noticed that the cameras moved slightly. Gary set the laptop down on the ground, and walked over to his duffel bag once more. He pulled out a small cube, and set it in the middle of the field. He pressed a button on its top, and from it came a target-looking dome. He walked back over to his laptop, and sat down. He picked up the laptop, and asked Andrew, "How about giving me a nice hard punch on that target in the middle of the field there, Andrew? I want to see if it's functioning properly."

Andrew cracked his knuckles and said, "Sure thing, Gary." He walked over to the target, wound back, and struck it with all his might. "Wow, Andrew, you sure have some arm there," Gary said, "That registered a pretty impressive amount of force for a human's punch! Other than that, it's working fine." Andrew gave a satisfied chuckle. After some more typing on his laptop, Gary addressed Andrew, "Okay, Andrew. First off, I want to check the levels of your Pokémon." Pointing to the little satellite dish-looking device, he said, "Have your Pokémon stand in front of this." Andrew turned to face Charizard, and motioned for it to stand in front of the device. A beep and a few seconds later, Gary nodded and said, "Okay. Your Charizard is showing up as being at level one hundred and two." Charizard walked away, as Gardevoir took its place. "Level one hundred twenty-five." Starmie floated over, and had its level checked. "Level one hundred sixty-three." Finally, Nidoking stepped up to the device, and when Gary checked his level, he muttered, "uh oh." "What?" Andrew asked, concerned. "It's the software. Your Nidoking's level is too high for it to read." "How is that?" Andrew asked, "I'm sure that Nidoking's level can't be anything that the program can't read. How many bits is the level variable?" "I'm not a programmer; I don't know that kind of stuff. All I know is that when it tries to tell me Nidoking's level, all it comes up with is errors. I'm no absolute genius, but I'm pretty sure that negative forty-two is not a valid level for a Pokémon."

Andrew turned and looked at Nidoking, saying playfully, "Well Nidoking, it looks as though you've broken the scale!" Gary and the others laughed, as Ash walked up to the device. "Hey Gary," he asked, "Would it be okay if you could check the level of Pikachu here?" "Sure thing," Gary responded, "Set him in front of the scanner." Pikachu hopped in front of the dish, and a few seconds later, Gary had his results. "It says here that your Pikachu is at level fifty three." "What?" Ash asked, surprised, "I would have figured that Pikachu would be much stronger than that!" Andrew stepped over to Ash and said, "Don't worry about it too much. I myself don't have much faith in a numerical level value. I believe that it has its flaws. Take a look at what happened when Gary tried to check Nidoking's level!" "You're probably right," Ash said, "I'll try not to worry about it." "Well then," Gary interjected, "How about we do some tests of things that aren't so arbitrary, then?" Andrew turned to Gary and nodded. "What I want you to do is have your Pokémon attack that target in the middle of the field there. It'll measure the force that it gets hit with, as well as voltage increases and temperature changes, for certain attacks."

Andrew nodded, and said, "Just don't get dejected if we wind up breaking the target." "I trust that the target is sturdy enough," Gary replied, "So how about we start off with Nidoking giving an Iron Tail?" "Sure thing," Andrew said, signaling Nidoking over, "Give me a nice hard Iron Tail attack on that target there, okay?" Nidoking roared, and charged up to the target, his tail glowing as he ran. When he reached the target, he quickly spun and smashed the target with his tail, creating a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, the target lay crumpled on the ground. "The target showed a huge spike in applied force, and then stopped sending a signal after that. I guess it wasn't sturdy enough." "I told you," Andrew said, "Why do you think most of Nidoking's opponents can't take more than one hit, especially if it's a physical attack?" "I suppose so," Gary said.

Gary stood up and began packing up the devices and hardware, saying, "Well, before anything else gets broken or malfunctions, I suppose I'll wrap up this test for today." "That's a good idea," Andrew said, "I don't want any more lab equipment damaged or destroyed. It's probably very expensive." Gary nodded, and walked over to pack up the cameras. As he did, Andrew turned to his Pokémon and said, "Well, I suppose that we won't be doing any more tests." He walked over to the cameras that Gary had finished packing up, and picked two of them up. Gary finished packing up the rest of the equipment, and picked up the duffel bag and the third camera.

"Well, let's head back to the lab," Andrew called to everyone, and they all began walking back up the hill. On the way, Gary and Andrew discussed the results of the findings. When they reached the lab, Gary took the equipment inside, while Professor Oak led everybody else around to the front of his house. They went inside, and sat down in the den. As Gary walked in from the lab, Brock stood up and asked, "Who would like some tea?" Everybody raised their hands, and Brock nodded, saying, "Okay, then. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As Brock left toward the kitchen, Gary sat down next to Professor Oak, and initiated conversation by asking, "So, how've things been recently?" "Well," Andrew replied, "I'm sure you've seen the Bay competition yesterday." Gary and Professor Oak nodded, as Andrew continued, "so I don't need to go into details about that." Andrew paused for a moment, with an expression of uncertainty on his face. He leaned over to Misty, and whispered in her ear, "I'm too shy about mentioning us being in love. Could you please tell them instead?" As Andrew leaned away, Misty looked at him and nodded.

Misty then turned to Professor Oak, Ash, and Gary, and said proudly, "Andrew and I are in love with each other." As Misty finished her sentence, everybody's expressions fell blank, and a loud hollow clang of metal was heard from the kitchen. Brock was then heard from the kitchen as he shouted at full volume, "What?!" He quickly charged back into the den, as the initial shock began to fade from everybody's faces. Andrew looked over to Brock, and said calmly, "You heard the lovely lady. We are in love with one another."

Brock's surprised expression shifted to that of a more analytical one, characterized by the way one folds their arms and holds their chin while thinking. He remained silent, while Gary leaned forward and asked, "For how long?" "Technically," Andrew replied, "we only told each other about it last night, but I have a feeling that—at least from my end—it was really a lot longer than that." Misty nodded in agreement, as Ash was confused, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Andrew sighed, and said, "Well, I've known her for a long time—I don't even remember how many years it was, eleven or twelve now?—and I always considered her as a friend. About two years ago—I don't know if it was my brain chemistry changing or what it was—but I started to think of her as someone who was more than just a friend. I don't quite know how to explain it, but I've always felt different whenever I'm around her or think of her."

Misty picked up where Andrew left off, adding, "I was the same way. A long time ago, much longer than two years ago, I had a huge crush on Andrew. My sisters laughed at me, telling me things like, 'how could he ever love a hotheaded scrawny runt like you?' and, 'it's only a crush. It'll be gone before you know it.' It did eventually go away, but then a year later, I started having feelings for him again. This time, though, it wasn't the same kind of feeling. It felt more genuine, and I started thinking about him more and more. Last night, I guess the blocks all fell in the right places, and this is what came out of it."

Brock uttered a "hmm" before moving his hand slightly, allowing him to speak. "I had a feeling that you two liked each other. I could see it in the way you acted when you were together. You both seemed so much more cheerful when the other was around." Everybody in the room nodded. "Oh!" Brock realized, "I left the tea out there! I'll be back in a second!" He rushed into the kitchen and came back out shortly after with a tray, teacups on plates, and teakettle.

As Brock poured the tea into the cups, there was a silence that befell the room. When the tea was distributed, each person reached over and picked up a plate. Professor Oak took a sip of his tea, and asked, "So, how is this news going to affect your training schedule, Andrew?"

Andrew thought for a moment while sipping his tea. He rested the teacup back on its respective plate, and said, "Well, I'm not going to give up training altogether, that's for sure. I know that I probably won't be putting as much time into it, but I don't know if I'll train differently."

"Oh," said Professor Oak, "that reminds me, what kind of battle plan did you have when you faced Lorelei?" Andrew chuckled nervously, and said, "Well, to be honest, I really didn't have a battle plan, because I didn't know what to expect. She hadn't used her Cloyster up to that point, and I wasn't sure what she was going to send out. Once I knew what she would be using, I pieced together my plan. I wasn't surprised when she immediately tried to render Nidoking defenseless. Of course, Nidoking's defense is just as powerful as his attacking ability. After that, it was a simple matter of attacking, since, concerning Nidoking, Cloyster's defense would simply have to be overpowered, and that's what I did. I used a nice and powerful attack that Cloyster was weak against, namely Thunder, and then followed up by a powerful physical attack when it was weak. Her Cloyster seemed a little too easy to defeat, though."

"It might have been easy for you, but Pikachu got flung around like a rag doll," Ash commented. "Well you know, Ash," Andrew started, "That Dewgong of hers is a lot larger than your Pikachu, and it has one wicked Tail Whip." Ash looked toward the ground. "Yeah, I found that out the hard way," he said.

Andrew interlocked his fingers, and rested his nose on them in thought. "I'm not sure," he began, "how strong Lorelei is, compared to the other three Elites." Brock cleared his throat, and said, "Lorelei is actually the weakest of the four Elites." "Hmm," Andrew said, "Why does that not surprise me? Well, it's obvious that she uses ice-type Pokémon. I'm not too sure about the others."

"Well," Brock began, "I know somebody that's defeated Lorelei before. He went on and faced Bruno after that. I think he used Rock and Fighting types. Bruno is a lot tougher than Lorelei, and I've only heard rumors about who's after Bruno. Some people say that the third Elite uses Psychic types, others say Poison. I haven't heard a thing on the fourth."

"I see," Andrew responded, "I suppose I'll have to go do some digging to find out who the Elites are, and what challenges they'll have in store. It's strange though, that only Lorelei, the weakest of the four, is the only one who gives speeches and demonstrations."

"Well Andrew," Professor Oak said, standing up, "The good news is that, since real battles against the Elite Four have been televised for a few years now, you can at least watch those for some insight into the Elites." He walked over to a large set of shelves with various DVDs on them. Pulling out one DVD from the collection, he said, "I recorded several battles against the Elites, and Gary here converted them to these video discs for me. I have all of the Elite battles that were ever recorded. Unfortunately, nobody has been able to get past Bruno, the second of the Elites, since they started recording Elite Four battles."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "There's no video past Bruno? Then I'll have to get info on the other two Elites the hard way." Professor Oak put the DVD into the player, and started playing the first battles. Over the course of the afternoon, Andrew examined the battles between challenger trainers and the two Elites. Throughout each battle, Andrew would discuss various aspects of the Elites' battling style.

At about 7:00, Andrew finished examining the last of the Elite battles that was available. "Well," Andrew said, "I suppose I'll be heading back home soon. It'll take about two hours to get back to Cerulean, and I want enough time to really sit down and think things over before go to sleep tonight." Andrew turned towards Professor Oak, and asked, "Professor, in your opinion, what is the best thing to consult for information on all the known Pokémon?" The professor didn't even need to think, and immediately responded, "Why, the Pokédex should have all the information you'll need on all the Pokémon." "Okay, thanks professor," Andrew said while nodding.

Andrew and Misty walked out to Andrew's truck, while Professor Oak, Gary, Ash, and Brock stood at the door and said their goodbyes. "I might be back up in a couple of weeks to talk about this some more," Andrew said before stepping into the truck, starting it, and driving away.

Andrew was silent for some time while he thought about the two Elites' strategies. He kept a fair share of concentration on his driving, as well. "So Andrew," Misty asked, "Are you going to try and go after the Elite Four?"

"Well of course I'm going to try, but I want to know what I'll be going up against first."

"I can understand that. You always did like to go into battle fully prepared."

"It's good strategy. The whole 'know thy enemy' thing, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Either way, I'm not going to try and take them on until I feel that I'm ready to take on the strongest of them."

"Who knows? Maybe you're already capable of taking on all four of the Elites."

"That remains to be seen. If I can just figure out what the other two Elites will be using…"

"They probably use something that's really hard to defeat, like Dragon-types or something."

"If they did, it wouldn't surprise me."

Andrew and Misty continued to talk, as the sun set. By the time they had passed Mt. Moon, the sun was already behind the horizon, and the moon had already begun to rise. Andrew drove the truck up the road, and passed the start of his long driveway. "Andrew, you just passed your house," Misty said. "I know," Andrew started, "There's somewhere I want to show you. I think you'll like it."

The road started to curve upwards, as it went up a hill near Andrew's house. Near the top, Andrew parked the truck along the road. He stepped out, and Misty followed suit. "Where are we," Misty asked, "I've never been up here before." "It's okay, just follow me," Andrew responded, holding out his hand.

Misty took hold of Andrew's hand, and he led her along a path through the woods. As the trees began to block out the moon's light, Misty pulled closer to Andrew as they walked. "Don't be afraid, Misty," Andrew said in a comforting tone, "There's nothing out here that'll hurt us. Even if there was, we've both got our Pokémon with us, and there's no way anything wild will be too much for them." Misty stayed close to Andrew, and responded, "I guess you're right, but I'm still scared." Andrew gave a slight chuckle, and said, "You won't be so scared once we get to where we're going."

They continued along the path as the moon rose higher in the sky. Eventually, Andrew came to a point and stopped. "Misty, I want you to cover your eyes. I want you to see it only when we get there." Misty covered her eyes with her hands, as Andrew put his hands on her shoulders, and led her from behind. They reached the end of the path, where the trees had opened up a clearing. "Okay Misty," Andrew said, "You can open your eyes now."

Misty moved her hands away, and opened her eyes. When she saw the place where Andrew had led her, she gasped in wonderment. It was a clearing on the side of the hill, with a breathtaking view of Mt. Moon. Andrew and Misty were standing on top of a large rock that was suspended over the edge of a large, calm pool of water. At the bottom of the rock was a small cave, where the pool's water flowed from.

"It's… beautiful!" Misty exclaimed, as Andrew put his arms around her waist, rested his chin on her shoulder, and observed Mt. Moon with her. "That it is, Misty," Andrew replied quietly in Misty's ear. "When I first found this spot some time last year, I knew that I had to show you. I know how much of a sucker you are for romantic places."

Andrew and Misty stood there and admired the scenery, lit by the cool and faint blue of the moon's light. "Wow, Andrew," Misty said, "I still can't get over how wonderful this spot is! How did you find it?" Andrew pointed to the edge of the pool, and said, "You see how the water leaves the pool and begins to flow down the hill?" Andrew waited until Misty nodded before continuing, "That forms the stream that runs on front of my house. I got curious one day, and followed the stream until I found this spot. I was just as awestruck as you, Misty."

They stayed at the pool, watching Mt. Moon from the rock they were standing on. Time seemed nonexistent to Andrew and Misty as they watched the mountain's snow glow with moonlight. Finally, Misty realized that a lot of time had passed, and said, "Andrew, I think we should get going. We've probably been standing here for more than an hour!" Andrew nodded, and they proceeded back through the dark path. Misty didn't seem as afraid of it as she had been when Andrew led her to the pool earlier.

When they reached Andrew's truck, they got in; Andrew turned the truck around, and drove back to his house. Andrew pulled the truck into the garage, and turned off the engine. He and Misty climbed out, and walked into the house. As they entered, Andrew immediately checked the clock. "We weren't up there for as long as you thought, Misty," Andrew said, "It's only about nine thirty." "Well, it felt like an hour," Misty said. "Indeed it did."

"What are you talking about, guys?" Rebecca said, coming down the stairs. "Oh, I took Misty up to that pool at the top of the hill. You know—the one that feeds the stream in front of the house." "Ah, I see," Rebecca acknowledged. "Did you make anything for dinner? I'm starved!" Andrew exclaimed jokingly. Rebecca chuckled, and said, "It should be ready any minute now. I had a feeling that you wouldn't be back until late."

"Yeah, we were up at Professor Oak's place for most of the day," Misty said. Andrew added, "I took a look at the videos of trainers that challenged the Elite Four. It seems that nobody ever made it past the second of them, at least in the videos I've seen." "You know," Rebecca said as she handed some dishes to Andrew to set the table with, "you father actually made it to the last of the Elites. He didn't beat him though. But from what I've seen, you're far stronger a trainer than he had ever been." Andrew placed the last dish on the table and said, "Possibly. I don't know, though." He paused, and then continued, "Lorelei wasn't really that much of a challenge when she gave that demonstration battle at the bay competition the day before yesterday. In the videos I saw, she seemed to be much more aggressive, and her Pokémon seemed stronger than that Cloyster that I fought."

Rebecca served dinner, as Andrew continued to talk. "From what I've seen, Lorelei uses a Dewgong, a Cloyster, a Slowbro, a Jynx, and a Lapras. At her demonstration at the competition, she brought out her Dewgong, Cloyster, Jynx, and Slowbro, but she didn't use her Cloyster for any battle but mine. I wonder why she didn't use that Lapras of hers. It seemed to be really strong. Most trainers' Pokémon weren't able to beat it."

"Lapras is probably her strongest Pokémon." Rebecca said.

'Wait a minute!" Andrew exclaimed, then asked, "Are Lapras supposed to purple?"

"No, they aren't. Lapras are blue in color." Misty said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, this isn't good," Andrew said, "Lorelei's Lapras was purple. It was probably larger than regular Lapras, too. That means that it's probably a lot stronger than a normal Lapras."

"It wouldn't surprise me if all the Elites had these unique Pokémon," Misty said.

"That's okay, I've got a unique team myself," Andrew proclaimed, "Especially Nidoking. He's the rarest of the rare out in the world. I wonder if there's a granite female Nidoran, Nidorina, or Nidoqueen out there?"

"Probably," Rebecca said, "You Nidoking can't be the only one out there."

"Wow," Andrew said to himself, "If my Nidoking is as powerful as he is, and a Nidoqueen just as powerful, imagine how the offspring would be! It'd be unstoppable! Granted, my Nidoking fits that description already."

Andrew quickly finished up his dinner, and went up to bathe. Shortly after he had settled himself in the tub, Andrew heard Misty knocking at the door. "It's okay, come in," he said. Andrew turned away from the shower area and closed his eyes as Misty entered the bathroom. After she had finished cleaning herself, she donned a towel and stepped into the tub.

Misty turned to Andrew. "You know," she said, "I'm surprised that you never tried to sneak a peek at me while I was washing myself." Andrew looked at her confused. "I respect your privacy. Besides, even though I'm a man, I try to have some decency." Misty smiled at Andrew, and said, "That's good. I've known a couple of men my sisters dated; they were very sleazy. They would always tell rude jokes. One of them came up and smacked me in the rear end once. I slapped him across the face, but he apparently wasn't the type to accept when something didn't go his way, and he hit me back."

"I know," Andrew said, "I was there. I broke his entire lower arm, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I remember now."

"It was sort of funny the look he had after I bent his hand back. A bit on the twisted side, I know."

"I was surprised that you did that, though. I thought you didn't like to hurt people?

"I don't. Actually, I hate hurting people. But I stand firm when I say that I will _not_ accept seeing a woman being hit by a man. I would have probably just thrown him on the ground and punched him in the face if it was some random girl. But, because it was you he hit, I just lost it. I wanted to make sure that he'd remember not to hit you again—ever."

"Actually, after that happened, Daisy left him. She said to him that anybody who hurts one of her sisters doesn't deserve to be with her."

"Really? She actually stood up for you?"

"Yeah."

"I suppose then, deep down, your sisters really do care about you."

"I think they just tease me to get on my nerves."

"Typical sibling rivalry, then?"

"Yeah."

When Andrew and Misty finished talking, Andrew took notice to the fact that Misty had rolled on top of him at some point during their conversation. He gave her a short hug and a kiss, before exiting the tub. Andrew dried off and put on his yukata. He walked out to the split at the path, and stopped to wait for Misty.

When she came out of the bathroom in her pink yukata, she met Andrew at the split in the path. They exchanged a hug and a short kiss goodnight, and then retired to their respective bedrooms.

Andrew sat in his bed for a short while, thinking of Misty. He then checked his alarm, and went to sleep.


	6. The Great Entry

**Chapter 6: The Great Entry**

Discovery. Andrew awoke to his alarm, and stretched before getting out of bed. He walked out of his room, and over to Misty's room. Two sharp knocks on the door yielded a "come in," from the other side. Andrew entered, as Misty sat up and stretched in her bed. He walked over to her and gave her a quick good-morning kiss on the cheek. He waited until she was on her feet, before the both of them went to the bathroom and brushed their teeth together, as they always did.

Misty walked into the changing room, while Andrew walked back to his room. He turned on his laptop to check his email, and found that his fan inbox had more than quadrupled from the normal amount in it. This was common for Andrew. Every time he went to a public competition, he would always get a much higher amount of emails than before. But this time, he got much more than he expected. He found three emails of importance.

One of his emails was from Lorelei herself. Curious, he read the email.

From: Lorelei Mutawa

To: Andrew Masako

Dear Mr. Masako,

I was quite impressed by your performance in my demonstration battle after the Glistening Bay Competition, and during the competition itself. Ever since you were young, you showed great promise in being a Pokémon trainer. I was curious about whether or not you were planning on challenging the Elite Four at any time in the near future. A recent article in the Pokémon Times suggests that you had plans to challenge the Elite Four some time soon. I can see that you have excellent command of your Pokémon, and that you have a lot of faith and trust in them. In all honesty, I believe you have what it takes to accomplish what no trainer has done before.

Sincerely,

Lorelei Mutawa of the Elite Four

"Well, this is interesting," Andrew said. He then clicked the _Reply_ button, and typed.

From: Andrew Masako

To: Lorelei Mutawa

Dear Ms. Lorelei Mutawa,

Thank you for your vote of confidence. In response to your question: yes, I am planning on challenging the Elite Four. However, I am going to do some research on what to expect first. After all, knowledge is the best weapon I have. I have already looked over your previous battles while I was visiting Professor Samuel Oak yesterday. You seemed to behave differently in a serious battling environment. You seem significantly more aggressive in ordering attacks than you were in your demonstration battle. Also, I was curious as to why you didn't battle me with the unique Lapras that you have. Thank you for your interest, and I'm looking forward to battling you again!

Sincerely,

Andrew Masako

After he hit the _Send_ button, Andrew read his other two important emails. One was from a representative for the Centers for the Care and Treatment of Lost and Abandoned Pokémon, thanking Andrew for his donation. The other was from Brock, which was sent shortly after Andrew and Misty had left Pallet Town the day before. Brock sent Andrew some information he found about the third of the Elite Four.

From: Brock Slate

To: Andrew Masako

Hey Andrew! I found out some things about the third of the Elite Four. Apparently, the third Elite is an old lady named Agatha, and she'll be using two Gengar, a Golbat, a Haunter, and an Arbok. One of the two Gengar is a uniquely colored one, like Lorelei's Lapras is. I'm not sure, but I think her Haunter is uniquely colored too. It seems as though all of the Elites use at least one really unique Pokémon, and as you know, they're a lot stronger than regular Pokémon. I hope this information helps!

-Brock

Andrew sent a quick reply back to Brock, thanking him for sending the information on the third Elite. He also mentioned the email that he received from Lorelei. Having no other important emails, Andrew shut his laptop off, and walked over to the bathroom.

Andrew walked into the changing room, and knocked on the bathing room's door twice. He heard Misty say "It's okay," from the other side, undressed, and entered. As Andrew walked in, he made sure that Misty was looking away from him. He set up the stool and washed himself, then wrapped his towel around his waist, and settled himself into the water.

Andrew muttered a relaxed "Aah" as he sat in the hot water. A few seconds later, he turned to Misty, and said, "Well, I got some interesting emails this morning."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. I got one from the Centers for the Care and Treatment of Lost and Abandoned Pokémon, in which they thanked us for our donation to them with that prize money."

"Okay…"

"I also got an email from Brock. He told me about the third of the Elite Four."

"Really? What did he say?"

"He told me that the third Elite was named Agatha, and that she's an old lady. He told me that she trains ghost and poison-type Pokémon, and that at least one of her Pokémon is unique in its color. She apparently will use a Gengar pair, an Arbok, a Golbat, and a Haunter. Brock isn't sure, but he thinks that the Haunter that Agatha uses is also unique."

"That should save you a lot of time looking for information today."

"Well, I'm going to look for information on Agatha anyway, to verify what Brock said, and to see if there's any information that Brock missed. Also, I don't know anything about her battle style, so I'm going to need to find that out too."

"Did Brock tell you anything else about the Elite Four?"

"Well, he did say that each one of the Elites more than likely has one or more unique Pokémon, so I'll have to be careful about that. On top of Brock's letter, I got an email from Lorelei."

"Wow, really?"

"Yep. She told me that she thinks that I might be able to defeat all four of the Elites. She also asked me whether or not I was planning on challenging the Elite Four. I sent an email back to her, thanking her for her vote of confidence, and telling her that I would be challenging the Elites."

"So, when exactly are you going to do this?"

"As it stands now, probably a few weeks. I'll talk to Nurse Joy in town and see what I have to do. Perhaps I can also get some information about the Elites off of her as well."

"I'm not sure how much information you'll be able to get; I'm a Gym Leader, and I don't even know that much about the Elite Four."

"Well, I'm sure that Nurse Joy has heard a lot of talk from passing trainers, and also, most of the Joys also hold positions above that of a Pokémon nurse."

"I suppose you're right. Well, I'm going to get out now."

Before Misty stood from the tub, she gave Andrew a short hug. Andrew faced the wall as Misty stepped out of the tub, went to the middle of the room, removed her towel, and left. Andrew waited a few minutes before doing the same. He swapped his wet towel out for a dry one, dried himself off, wrapped the towel around his waist, and left the bathroom.

Andrew walked over to his room, and put on some cologne before getting dressed. He walked into his closet, and looked over his coats for a moment, before picking out his oldest most often-worn one, the blue-green trench coat. He stepped out of the closet with the coat in-hand, then tossed it on the bed. He put on the rest of his clothes, including the army-green shirt and dark blue jeans that he normally wore with his coat. He checked himself one last time in the closet mirror before leaving the room.

Andrew walked past Misty's room, noticing that the door was closed. He continued downstairs, and found that Rebecca was at work making breakfast for everyone. "Good morning, mom," Andrew said. Rebecca turned away from the contents of a skillet on the stove, and replied, "Good morning, Andrew." She turned back to what she was cooking, and said, "Please go and tell Misty that breakfast will be ready soon, would you, Andrew?"

"You mean Misty isn't down here yet?"

"No, she hasn't come down yet. I don't even think she left her room yet."

"Okay then. I'll go and tell her."

Andrew walked back up the stairs, and over to Misty's room. He gave two sharp knocks upon the door, and asked, "Misty? Are you all right in there?"

"Don't come in; I'm not dressed yet," Misty said through the door.

"You aren't dressed yet? Why not?"

"I'm not sure what I want to wear today."

"We won't be doing anything special, so just wear whatever you like."

"Well, what do you think I should wear?"

"It really doesn't matter to me, Misty. You look good in just about anything you wear, so just pick whatever comes to your mind first."

"What are you wearing?"

"Me? I'm just wearing my old teal trench coat."

"Okay, then. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Hurry, breakfast will soon be ready."

"Okay!"

Andrew walked back downstairs. "So, she isn't dressed yet, huh," Rebecca said.

"Nope. She said that she didn't know what to wear."

"You'll have this happen."

"True, but Misty is usually really decisive about things."

Rebecca turned off the stove, and began to serve breakfast onto three plates she had sitting near the stove. After she finished serving breakfast, she placed the cookware into the sink. As Rebecca did this, Andrew walked up to the three plates of food, grabbed two, and set them over on the breakfast bar. Rebecca walked up with the third plate, and sat down. As Andrew readied to sit, he took a look up towards the walkway above, and saw Misty walking towards the stairs.

When Misty reached the bottom of the stairs, Andrew said, "Just in time!" Misty had decided to wear a pair of short and stiff blue shorts, with a sky blue shirt that had a small, light cream-colored open jacket over top of it. Her hair was also pulled up into her usual left-side ponytail. She walked over to the breakfast bar, and sat down next to Andrew, in front of the second plate he placed for her.

The three began eating, and Andrew asked, "So, what took you so long to pick out what you wanted to wear?"

"I don't know. I just couldn't decide what I wanted to wear."

"That's unusual, considering how decisive you tend to be. Is something wrong?"

"No, I feel fine. This kind of thing happens to me sometimes."

Rebecca chimed in, asking, "When does it happen?"

"Randomly," Misty replied, "I don't think there's really anything that triggers it."

"Just like I tend to forget random bits of information at random times," Andrew said. "Oh well, I suppose it's best to not worry about it. Strange things happen."

They finished their breakfast, and Rebecca took the plates over to the sink, rinsed them, and put them into the dishwasher. Andrew walked over into the living room, and over to a rack of books, and various disk and cassette cases. "Hey mom," Andrew asked towards Rebecca in the kitchen, "Where's the DVD you recorded of the competition Misty and I won the day before yesterday?" Rebecca walked out into the living room, and responded, "Third shelf down, all the way at the end." Andrew looked to where Rebecca had mentioned, and found the properly-labeled case sitting right where Rebecca said it would be.

Andrew took the DVD case off of the shelf, and placed it into the DVD player sitting near the television in the living room. He then walked over to the sofa that Misty was sitting on, and sat down next to her. As the DVD read in the drive, Andrew picked up the remote and waited for the main menu to appear. He was glad that he taught Rebecca how to make a DVD with a menu and chapter selections, as it made it a lot easier for Andrew to quickly skip to the battles that Misty and he participated in.

Andrew skipped to the first of his battles, and concentrated on the way he presented himself at the battles, and the manner in which he ordered his Pokémon. Since his battles at the competition were extremely short, Andrew watched them several times. He spent literally hours watching his battles, closely examining them. He paid extra attention to the battle he had against Lorelei, frequently thinking back to how he felt during the battle.

Andrew looked up at the clock. "It's half past one. We'd better get to the Pokémon Center before it starts to get crowded." Misty nodded, and they both stood from the sofa. Andrew stopped at the door to put his boots on, as Misty put on her white sneakers. They walked over to the garage, and Andrew checked his Pokéballs before entering his car. Misty entered the car from the passenger's side, and clipped her seatbelt in place. Andrew fastened his seatbelt, and started the car. He pressed the button in his car to open the garage door, and he pulled out. He drove away as the garage door closed automatically.

As Andrew drove along the open and unowned fields, he smelled the air that came rushing in through the lowered windows. He entered Cerulean City, and turned north. He drove to the Pokémon Center, and parked in the parking lot near it. He stepped out of the car, followed soon after by Misty, and they walked into the Pokémon Center.

To their surprise, the Pokémon Center was almost completely empty. "Strange," Andrew said, "Usually Pokémon Centers get a lot of traffic in the days following major events. Oh well, that just means that there's that much more time I have to ask Nurse Joy some questions." Misty nodded, and they both walked up to the front desk, where Nurse Joy was sorting data at the desk's computer. Nurse Joy looked up as they approached, and said, "Hello there, Misty. Hello Andrew. Is there anything you need?"

"Yes," Andrew started, "I'm planning on challenging the Elite Four some time from now. Do you know what kinds of registration and preparation I'll need in order to challenge them?"

Nurse Joy opened a drawer at the desk, and pulled from it a form and a pamphlet. She handed the two things to Andrew, and said, "This is really all you'll need. This is the registration form that needs to be filled out, and this pamphlet will tell you about the rules and regulations associated with the battles."

"Thank you," Andrew said. "Also, would you happen to know anything about the Elite Four themselves?"

"Well, the pamphlet has information about the Elite Four, but if you want more detailed information, there are books about it over on the reference shelves."

"Really?" Andrew asked, "Information on the Elite Four is that readily available?"

"Of course. After all, there is a reason why this is called a Pokémon Center."

"Well, thank you so much for your information. I'm going to check out some of the detailed information, and I'll get this registration form back to you later."

Andrew took the form and pamphlet, and walked over to the reference shelves, as Misty stayed behind and talked with Nurse Joy. Andrew searched amongst the books, until he encountered one entitled, "The Elite Four and Their Pokémon: Everything you needed to know about the Elite Four." He pulled the book off the shelf, and walked over to an empty table. He set the book down on the table, sat down, and opened up the pamphlet. He soon found that Elite Four challenges were held at the Indigo Stadium on the Indigo Plateau. "Apparently, it is used at times other than Indigo League competitions," Andrew said quietly to himself.

As Andrew continued to pour over the pamphlet, he found the rules of the competition to be relatively simple. The competition would last over four consecutive days, each of which contained one battle with one of the four Elites. The challenging trainer was only allowed to use one team of up to 6 Pokémon throughout the entire competition, which made little difference to Andrew, as he only had four Pokémon. Spectators were allowed to attend the competition, and it would be televised and recorded for archival purposes. The matches themselves would have no time limit, there would be unlimited substitution by both sides, and it would involve the full parties of both the trainer and the Elite's Pokémon. The competition will end as soon as either the trainer defeats all four Elites, or is defeated in any Elite battle. The trainer may challenge the Elites as many times as they see fit, but must start the competition from the beginning again, regardless of how far they progressed previously.

Andrew stopped to think about the rules momentarily, and then continued reading the pamphlet. He saw portraits and small biographies about each of the Elites. Below each Elite's section, there were portraits of the Pokémon that they would be using. He quickly noticed that all of the Elites only use five Pokémon. Lorelei's lineup was much to be expected. She would be using a regular Dewgong, Cloyster, Slowbro, and Jynx, and a uniquely colored Lapras. Bruno, the second Elite, uses a regular Onix, Hitmonchan, and Hitmonlee, but his second Onix and his Machamp are both uniquely colored. The third of the Elites, Agatha, would be using the same team that Brock said that she'd be using. She uses a regular Gengar, Golbat, and Arbok, but also a uniquely colored Gengar and Haunter.

The first three Elites didn't surprise Andrew that much, but the last of the Elites, Lance, gave Andrew reason for concern. Lance's entire team was comprised of uniquely colored Pokémon, and by the looks of the portraits, they were all rather strong and aggressive looking. Lance uses a red Gyarados, two pink Dragonair, a pink Aerodactyl, and a brown-green Dragonite.

Andrew quickly opened the book he pulled from the reference shelf, and flipped to the section on Lance. As Andrew had suspected, the entirety of Lance's team was uniquely colored, and by the descriptions in the book, insanely strong. Lance spent the majority of his days training his Pokémon relentlessly, and continues to do so even today. Apparently, there were trainers that had actually made it to fight Lance, but all found their defeat to be quick and brutal. Apparently, it was before they began recording Elite battles.

As Andrew continued to read about the Elites, Misty came over to him, carrying a book. She sat down beside him, and said, "Look at this book I found on the shelf!" Andrew looked over at the book, and read the title of the book aloud. "'Top Ten Greatest Trainers of Twenty Two Fifty Three.' It was published in January, eh? Seems interesting; who's in it?" Misty handed Andrew the book, and he opened it up. As he flipped through the sections about each trainer, he said to Misty, "Say, I've battled these guys before." Misty nodded, and Andrew flipped to the last section.

"Whoa," Andrew said as he flipped to the first page in the last section. Andrew saw a large portrait of himself at the top corner of the page, and the header of section read, "Top trainer of 2253: Andrew Masako." Curious to see what was written about him, Andrew continued to read the section.

Name: Andrew S. Masako

Birth date: September 5, 2234

Place of birth: Fuchsia City

Current residence: Near Cerulean City

Parents: Rebecca Masako and Alexander Masako

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 175 lb.

Owned Pokémon: Nidoking, Gardevoir, Starmie, Charizard

Quote: "It's the experience that counts."

Andrew's father, Alexander Masako, showed great promise in the late 2220s and early 2230s, and was even labeled one of the greatest trainers of the early 2230s. However, when he had his only son, Andrew, he fell out of the limelight as he passed his knowledge down to his son. Alexander left Andrew and his mother in 2240, attempting to regain his former trainer glory. He was never heard from again, but is believed to be somewhere in Hoenn, in a secluded area. Alexander challenged the Elite Four, but was defeated by Lance, the final Elite. He hasn't challenged the Elites since.

Andrew was born in Fuchsia City Hospital, on September 5th, 2234. He spent the first eight years of his life living near Fuchsia City, learning to train Pokémon by his father until he left. His mother, Rebecca, owned a business within the city. Andrew was brought up in a modest home, despite the high income by his mother, and the large amount of money that his father earned from being a Pokémon trainer. In 2241, at the age of seven, Andrew befriended and soon after captured his first Pokémon, a small gray male Nidoran.

The capture of the gray Nidoran sparked headlines all across the region, as it was the rarest Pokémon find since Mew more than 50 years ago. Andrew kept the Nidoran as a pet, and didn't train it at all. When his mother decided to retire early, he moved to a much larger home in between Cerulean City and Mt. Moon in 2242. After Andrew had encountered the Gym in Cerulean City, he challenged the Gym Leader at the time, Rose Waterflower, mother of the current Cerulean City Gym Leaders. Two years underage for being a Pokémon trainer, and using a completely untrained Nidoran, Andrew again shook headlines by easily defeating one of the most difficult Gym Leaders in the League at the time.

Andrew's success at the Cerulean Gym earned him the attention of many of the Gym Leaders, and even Lorelei of the Elite Four. After some debate, it was decided that Andrew had shown that he was capable of Pokémon training at such an early age, and was given a Pokémon trainer's license in March of 2242, despite the fact that only the children of Gym Leaders were allowed trainers' licenses at such a young age.

When Andrew obtained his trainers' license, he quickly set to work training as his father did. He trained mostly at the Cerulean Gym, where he quickly befriended Rose's youngest daughter, Misty, who was the same age as Andrew.

"Hey look," Andrew said, pointing to the page, "This book mentions you, Misty!" Misty looked at where Andrew had pointed, as Andrew continued to read.

He spent most of his young days training more and more seriously with each passing month. His Nidoran evolved into a Nidorino during a training session with Misty, in which her Staryu mysteriously evolved into Starmie at the exact same time as Andrew's Nidoran. Andrew at this time was nine years of age.

As Andrew neared the age of ten, he began traveling farther and farther away from his home. His Nidorino evolved into a Nidoking by chance while Andrew was exploring Mt. Moon. Later, on a fishing trip with Misty one summer week, they both caught Staryu. However, Andrew's was uniquely colored. Andrew continued training, and his Staryu evolved into Starmie by the end of the year.

When Andrew turned eleven, he set out on a trip to other lands. He first went traveling through the Hoenn region, where he caught a uniquely colored Ralts. He kept with his training, and had managed to evolve it all the way to a Gardevoir within the month. Instead of traveling back to Kanto, he detoured through Jhoto for a short time. He returned to Kanto with a Pokémon Egg in his possession. After having it identified in Vermilion City as the egg of a Togepi, he declared it a suitable gift to give to Misty, who had by this time become one of the official Cerulean Gym Leaders.

Upon Andrew's return to Kanto at age 13, he quickly joined with a newcomer trainer named Ash Ketchum. Andrew claims that he was actually traveling along because of Misty, but decided not to challenge any of the Gym Leaders along the way, believing that he wasn't ready, regardless of the fact that his Pokémon were more powerful than most entrants in the annual Indigo League Competition.

Andrew obtained his fourth and final Pokémon while at Cinnabar Island. It was a uniquely colored Charmander. During this point in time, Andrew had fallen out of the world's eyes, as he had not participated in any Gym battles, nor did he participate in the Pokémon League that year. He returned to his home near Cerulean City at age 14 and trained diligently until he neared the age of 18.

He set out once again, storming through the eight most popular Gyms, collecting their Badges easily. This brought the attention of many, who theorized that Andrew was planning on entering the Indigo League Competition. As many expected, Andrew did enter the League Competition that year. However, what many didn't expect was Andrew's performance at the League. In a stunning display, surpassing even the expectations of experts, Andrew defeated all of his opponents flawlessly.

This feat immediately sent Andrew into the same renown that he had been in just over a decade before. Many theorize that Andrew will forge on to challenge, and as many expect, defeat the Elite Four. However, at the time of this publication, there has been no official word about it.

When Andrew read the last paragraph that was printed about him, he said, "Well, I suppose that there's going to be an official 'yes' about it very, very soon." Andrew closed the book and handed it back to Misty, and said, "That was an interesting read. I didn't know that I was rated as the top trainer of last year."

Misty put the book under her arm, and said, "Don't be so modest, Andrew! You know that you're the best that's out there right now!"

"Don't be so sure," Andrew said, "There could be better trainers waiting for the right moment to show themselves."

"You might be right, but for now, you're the best that's known about."

Misty stood from the table, and walked off, with the book still under her arm. Andrew went back to reading the long sections of information about the Elites. A few minutes later, Misty returned with a different book. She sat down next to Andrew, opened the book, and began reading. Meanwhile, Andrew began filling out the registration form for the Elite Four Competition.

When Andrew finished filling out the form, he double-checked his information. He then turned to Misty, who was still reading her book, and said, "Well, I think that's about it for this registration form!" Misty looked over at Andrew, smiled, and replied, "That's good. Do you know when it'll be held, or isn't there anything that lets you know?"

"Well, the form had a space to put in a desired date. I put it in for three weeks from now."

"Are you sure that three weeks will give you enough time to prepare?"

"I could get myself prepared in less than a week. I just want more time so that spectators can make time in their schedules."

Misty chuckled at Andrew's comment, and moved aside so that Andrew could turn the form in to Nurse Joy at the front desk. Andrew walked up to the front desk proudly, and placed the completed form on the desk's surface. "Well," Andrew said, "here's the completed registration form. Nurse Joy took the form, and looked over it. She laid the form down on a lower part of the desk, and said to Andrew, "Just a moment, please."

Andrew nodded, and Nurse Joy turned to her computer and entered some information. Shortly after, she turned back to Andrew and said, "The date you've specified on the form seems to be okay. There are no events planned in the Indigo League's main stadium, so the week is yours."

Andrew nodded again, saying, "Good." He then asked, "Now, will this information be told directly to the media, or what will happen with it?"

"Well, the registration information will go directly to the offices at the Indigo Plateau. After they're processed there, and the final date is set—something that happens within minutes—they'll release the date information to several news agencies, including the Pokémon Times. Usually, they put articles in the newspapers, or make a comment about it on the news. Shortly after, they put flyers and notices up at Gyms and Pokémon Centers. The flyers are usually distributed about two days after the information is sent out to the public."

"I see. Well, at least I'll have some time to tell my friends about my entry before they find out from the media. And I'm sure that the media is going to do back flips when they hear this news!"

"Oh I'm sure they will. Good luck in the competition, Andrew!"

"Thank you, Nurse Joy. I'll be sure to do my absolute best!"

Andrew paused for a moment before leaving, thinking, "_I know I'm forgetting about something._" "Oh!" he said aloud, "I forgot to ask you something, Nurse Joy."

"Yes, Andrew, what is it?"

"Will there be anywhere where people I personally invite can sit, preferably separate from the crowd?"

"Why of course there is! There's a whole section reserved for invitees and up to four arena-side seats for very special invitees."

"I see. Thank you once again, Nurse Joy."

'You're welcome. Have a nice day, Andrew."

Nurse Joy turned and continued to enter data on her computer at the desk. Andrew turned around, and saw someone running away from him, towards a crowd of people. Out of nowhere, the man boasted at full volume, "Masako's challenging the Elite Four! He's actually going to take on the Elite Four!"

Andrew walked quickly back to the table where Misty sat, alerted by the man's outburst, and looking towards the crowd. Andrew leaned down towards Misty, and said quietly but quickly in her ear, "I think we'd better get out of here. This could get ugly really fast."

Misty snapped her book shut, and said "I agree," while nodding. She stood from the table, leaving the book there. Andrew quickly collected the pamphlet on the table and walked out, Misty close behind.

Just after Andrew and Misty passed through the doors, a loud "Where did he go?" was heard from inside. They quickened their pace to that of a jog. They reached the car and quickly entered, fastening their seatbelts before they even had the doors closed. They quickly shut the doors, and Andrew started the engine. Just as he pulled away, he saw a small crowd begin to filter out of the doorway to the Center. They pointed towards Andrew's car just as he turned and pulled out of the parking lot as fast as legally possible.

"That was a close one!" Misty exclaimed. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Misty," Andrew replied, nearing the southeastern exit to the city. "I can say one thing though," Andrew began, "probably all of Cerulean is going to know about this by the end of the hour." Misty nodded. "You can count on that one," she said.

Andrew sped down the long winding road that led back to the sanctuary of his home. "It won't be long before there's a crowd of fanatics on our tail. Sometimes I really regret having been listed in the phone book." A few minutes later, they arrived back at Andrew's house. Andrew quickly pulled the car into the garage, and shut off the car. He paused for a moment, letting out a sigh. He then said, "Well, we'd better get ready to batten down the hatches, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I know quite well what you mean."

"I think I have about ten or fifteen minutes before locals start arriving. After that, the media will be on its way, since the registration information is released to the media after it's processed and finalized. That processing and finalization takes only a few minutes. A day or two after that, flyers will be going up all over the place. Pokémon Centers and Pokémon Gyms will most likely be the first place they'll turn up, but I think that they'll become the wallpaper of cities across Kanto. I know you know how huge an event this is."

Misty merely nodded wordlessly, and both she and Andrew exited the car, and walked into the house. As they walked in, Rebecca was right near the door to greet them. "There's not much time to waste, mom," Andrew said hastily as he removed his boots, "There's going to be people—lots of people—coming here very, very soon."

Rebecca was confused. "Why do you say this, Andrew?"

"I registered for the Elite Four Competition."

"Oh. I see."

"But that's not all. Someone overheard my conversation about it with Nurse Joy, and there was a crowd of informed people bursting out of the Center as I drove away in a rush. There's only going to be a few minutes before people start knocking at the door."

"Oh dear, this isn't good."

"I know. Is that old iron gate I saw in the garage still useful?"

"I think the hinge attachments on the bridge posts are still there."

"Great. I suggest we head out and set that gate up before anyone gets here. That'll hopefully turn at least some of them away."

Andrew quickly put his boots back on, as Rebecca quickly slipped on a pair of shoes as well. Misty hadn't taken her shoes off at all, and walked out the door first. They all went into the garage and quickly moved the heavy halves of the iron gate out to the bridge. Misty and Rebecca carried one half; Andrew, the other.

When they reached the small bridge, Andrew looked to the posts at each end for any places they could lower the gate into. He didn't see one on either set of supports, much to his dismay. "Let's check the pair of posts towards the end of the driveway." Andrew said, still carrying the gate piece across his back. They moved quickly to the posts at the end of the driveway, and found there to be fittings for a gate to be lowered in. They quickly fitted the two gate pieces into the fittings, thankfully finding them to fit perfectly.

With both gate halves in place, they secured it and walked back to the house. They walked in and removed their shoes, then sat on the white sofas around the television. Upon turning on the television, they switched it to an all-news channel. Not surprisingly, the current "big story" was that Andrew Masako had applied for the Elite Four Competition.

"Well, that does it. Now all of Kanto knows. I suppose it's only a matter of time now. After all, there are people out there that are willing to jump or walk around that gate."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Speak of the devil," Andrew said nonchalantly. Rebecca walked over to the door and opened it. Surely enough, there stood the same man that ran screaming through the Pokémon Center earlier. "Is Andrew Masako here?" he said between strong breaths.

"I'm sorry," Rebecca started, "but Andrew does not wish to be disturbed at this time." The man apparently didn't care about what Rebecca said, since he leaned into the doorway and spotted Andrew. Andrew stood up quickly, as the man began to enter the house uninvited. Rebecca attempted to hold the man back, but he pushed her aside and entered anyway, stepping out of the recess with his shoes on.

"First off," Andrew said angrily as he marched up to the man, "in this house, we don't lightly tolerate walking on the floor without removing your shoes." Andrew quickly turned the man around and pushed him towards the door, eventually shooing him out of it completely. "Second, don't enter any building or household to which you aren't welcome." Andrew slipped on his sandals that sat near the door, and walked outside. Further escorting the man from the premises, he finalized, "And third, there's a reason why closed gates and Private Property exist: to keep unwanted people from walking on unwanted territory."

Andrew led the man to the gate, opened it to let him through, and shut it again, saying, "Now, if you would, please leave!" The man wore a guilty expression on his face, and said, "Sorry I wasted your time, mister Masako," before turning away, entering his car, and leaving. Andrew stood on the opposite side of the gate, watching the man leave. Suddenly, Misty came running up from the house, carrying a sign that read, "**PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO TRESSPASSING.**"

"Ah, this'll help! Thanks for getting it out, Misty. This'll probably dissuade a few more people."

"I can only hope so," Misty said, as Andrew attached the sign to the front of the gate. Just then, another two vehicles pulled up near the gate. Andrew reached between two bars and pointed at the sign. The vehicles sat in place for a moment, then drove off. "Well, there's two more that won't be bothering us."

They walked back to the house and entered, leaving their sandals in the recess. Andrew walked up into his room, and sat down at his desk chair. As he waited for his laptop to finish starting, he turned on the television and listened to the news. The anchorman was still talking about how Andrew has entered the Elite Four Competition.

"_They're still talking about me? I would figure that there would be some other event that's more important somewhere in the world._" Andrew thought. When his laptop had finished starting up, he checked his email. He wasn't surprised to find a reply from Lorelei in his inbox, but he was surprised to find a second new email from her. Andrew read Lorelei's first email, and then sat back in his chair.

Before he could read the latest letter, Misty walked into the room. "Why hello," Andrew said to Misty jokingly, in a mock British accent. Misty laughed, as Andrew motioned for her to take a seat on his sofa. After she sat down, Andrew said to her, "Well, I've gotten a very interesting email."

"Ooh, who's it from?"

"Lorelei. It was sent only a few minutes ago, so it's probably about my decision to challenge the Elite Four. As for what it contains, I haven't read it yet."

Before they could continue their conversation, Misty and Andrew heard a ringing from the phone downstairs. They both froze, sitting in silence as they heard Rebecca answer it. "Hello?" they heard faintly. "Yes, she's here. Okay, I'll get her."

"Misty! There's a phone call from your sisters for you!" Rebecca shouted upstairs. Misty, wondering why her sisters would be calling for her, walked out of the room and downstairs. Andrew decided to follow.

Misty took the phone and began her conversation with her sisters. Andrew heard someone knocking at the door, and figured that it was another crazed fan. Angry, he stomped over to the door and opened it. Much to his surprise, it wasn't a crazed fanatic at all.

"Professor Oak! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I had a feeling that you'd be entering the Elite Four competition, so I decided to come over and make sure that your Pokémon are physically fit and will be ready to battle when the time comes."

"How did you get here? I have the gate out front locked."

"I flew in from the back. The only road that runs out here was clogged with traffic for a very great distance."

"What?! There's that many people trying to get up here?"

"It would seem so. Anyway, I turned around and went back to Cerulean, parking in the Pokémon Center's parking lot. Then I just flew in on a Pidgeot."

"Good thinking. Have you checked at the front gate for a crowd?"

"Of course. I saw everyone there shortly before I landed."

Andrew gave a sigh. "Well," he started, "I supposed I'd better go and tell them all to get lost. Please, come in and sit down while I go take care of this." As the Professor walked in, Andrew slipped on his sandals and walked outside. As he stepped within sight of the crowd, he noticed several people pointing. Suddenly, the crowd erupted with noise.

As Andrew stepped closer, he could make out that most of them were from media companies, and holding out various microphones between the bars of the gate. Angry at the ravenous reporters, he loudly shouted, "Will you all just shut up?!" Within seconds, the entire crowd fell silent, with more microphones held forward than one can count.

"If you want to ask me questions, I will arrange for a press conference sometime around June eighth. Until then, I do not wish to be contacted for anything. I don't want to be disturbed at all. This goes for the common people as well. I don't want anybody crowding around this gate at all. Good day, and I hope to see this area clear by the end of the hour."

Andrew turned and began walking back to his house, as the reporters attempted to barrage him with questions. Andrew didn't really have to bother with ignoring them, since individual questions and statements dissolved into the din of the crowd. As Andrew rounded a turn and out of the sight of the crowd, he gave a long sigh. He crossed the small bridge over the stream, and walked back into the house.

As Andrew shut the door, Misty rushed up to him, and hugged him tightly around the neck. "I've got great news, Andrew," she said, "my mom heard about your entry and is coming back to Cerulean!"

"Rose is coming back? That's great! When will she be here?"

"Daisy told me that she'll probably be arriving by boat in Vermilion sometime tomorrow."

"We'll have to find out what time her ship will arrive, and meet her on the dock."

"She said she'd call later, when she gets the ticket"

Misty moved away from Andrew, and they both sat down in the living room. Rebecca and Professor Oak were already sitting on one of the sofas, so Andrew and Misty sat on the other.

"So Professor," Andrew began, "Why did you say you came out here again?"

"I wanted to make sure that your Pokémon were ready to challenge the Elite Four."

"Well Professor, in my humble opinion, I think they're more than ready to go up against whatever the Elites can throw at them. I just need to get them prepared."

"So, if you're ready to challenge them, why did you choose to start it so far from now?"

Andrew gave a hearty chuckle, and said, "Misty asked me almost the exact same thing. I could get prepared in less than a week, but I wanted to give the public enough time to reserve their seats and make proper arrangements. I care about my fans, even though they do annoy me when they get overexcited like this."

"I see. Have you looked over information about the Elite Four?"

"Yes. Information on them was actually a lot easier to obtain than I thought. There was a book in the Pokémon Center in Cerulean that was just full of information on all of the Elites' Pokémon and battle strategies."

"Oh really? I haven't looked over any of the books in a Pokémon Center recently."

"I never thought that a Pokémon Center would have so much information in them, but like Nurse Joy told me, there's a reason why they're called Pokémon Centers."

"I see. Well, I left all of my equipment locked up in my car, and I don't want to just leave it all sitting in Cerulean. It's very expensive equipment, you know."

"I understand. Let me go and check to see if everybody's still mobbing the gate outside."

Andrew stood and left the house. As he neared the bend in the driveway, he quickly ducked into the trees. Surely enough, there were still a few people standing outside, but they seemed to be directing all the traffic to turn around. "_I'll have to make a mental note to thank those people later_," Andrew thought, as he darted out of the trees.

Andrew ran down alongside the stream, and looked down the road that led to his house. He saw that there were still many, many cars. It was going to be a while before they cleared out completely. He turned and headed back to the house.

As Andrew walked back in the house, Rebecca, Misty, and Professor Oak turned to look at him. Shaking his head, Andrew said, "It's still backed up as far as I can see. There's too much traffic both ways, since people are starting to turn around. Professor, I think you're going to have to store your equipment at either the Cerulean Gym or the Pokémon Center."

"Hmm," the professor uttered, "I suppose I'll have to store the equipment in the Cerulean Gym. I also won't be able to stay at the Pokémon Center tonight, since the Nurse Joy there said that they were already overbooked already with a wave of trainers that are passing through Cerulean from the Bay Competition a few days ago."

"Well, it would be rude for us to not offer you a room to stay in while you're visiting us, professor," Rebecca said, "You can stay in the guest room upstairs for the night."

"I suppose that'll work," Andrew said, thinking. "How's this: Mom, you and Misty go help Professor Oak move his equipment into the Gym, and I'll stay here and ready the guest room for tonight."

Misty and Rebecca nodded, and Andrew reached for his belt. "Okay then," he said, readying a Pokéball, "I'll have Gardevoir teleport you to the Pokémon Center."

Andrew held up the ball and commanded for Gardevoir to come out. In a flash of white light, Andrew's Gardevoir appeared. "Nice to meet you again, Gardevoir," Professor Oak said. Gardevoir curtseyed in response.

"Gardevoir," Andrew started, "Professor Oak has some equipment in his car in Cerulean. We can't drive down there because there's a lot of traffic preventing us from getting to the city. I want you to teleport him, Misty, and mom down to the Pokémon Center there to help him move the equipment to the Gym, ok?"

Gardevoir nodded in agreement, and put one of her arms out. Professor Oak, Misty, and Rebecca placed their hands on top of the end of Gardevoir's arm, and in a quick flash, they all vanished, leaving Andrew alone in the house.

Andrew quickly walked upstairs, and into the guest bedroom. The first thing he noticed when he walked into the room was that the bed was themed with oceanic blue colors. He removed the blue bedclothes, folded them up, and stored them in the side closet, where all of the guest room supplies were stored. The other side was for the guest to keep their belongings in.

As Andrew expected, many of Misty's belongings were in the closet and dresser. He gave a sigh, and walked to his bedroom. He found two empty plastic boxes, and took them over to the guest room. He set them both on top of the dresser, and started placing Misty's clothes neatly in it. On top of the dresser, Andrew found a framed photograph of himself. He muttered "hmm" to himself as he slipped the photo out of the frame, and looked at the back. On the back was written "**5-12-53**" in Andrew's rough handwriting, and below it, "**To: Misty, From: Andrew. Sorry I forgot to get you a gift, I hope this makes up for it. Happy 18th!**"

Andrew remembered the photo that he was holding. He had given it to Misty for her 18th birthday, since he had completely forgotten to buy or make her any sort of birthday present. Andrew smirked as he recalled the memory. He noticed though, that there was a heart, drawn in girly fashion, next to his name on the back of the photo. "Strange," he said out loud, "I don't recall putting any hearts on the photo. Misty must have put it there." He put the photo back in the frame, and set it back on top of the dresser.

When he finished taking the folded clothes from the dresser and placing them in the plastic box, he gently placed his gift photo on top of the pile. He placed all of Misty's perfume bottles and her hairbrush into the other plastic box. He took the hanging outfits from the guest closet, and draped them over his arm. He carried the boxes back to his room, and set them on the floor near the back of the closet. Above the boxes, he moved away some of his coats, and hung up the clothes that Misty had left in the guest closet.

Upon returning to the guest room, Andrew made one last check for any of Misty's belongings that he might have forgotten to remove. Once he had verified that all of Misty's items were removed from the room, he pulled out a set of white sheets from the guest room supply closet, and put them on the bed. He removed the wrinkles from the fitted sheet and the regular sheet before putting a gray blanket over top. He slipped white pillowcases onto the pillows, and tossed them to make sure that they were full and fluffy before setting them neatly in place at the head of the bed.

"Andrew! We're back!" Rebecca shouted from downstairs. Andrew walked out of the guest room and over to the railing facing the living room. Andrew noticed that Professor Oak was carrying a suitcase, presumably with belongings he would need during his stay. "Professor," Andrew said, "the guest room is right behind me, and you can unpack your stuff." Professor Oak, Rebecca, and Misty walked up the stairs.

When they all reached the guest room, Rebecca led Professor Oak inside, and Andrew walked over to his room. Misty followed Andrew into his room, and asked, "What about all the things I had in the room?"

"Relax," Andrew said, walking over to the closet and opening the door, "I put all your belongings into two plastic boxes and set them at the back. I hung your dresses above the boxes."

"Okay, thanks Andrew"

"By the way, Misty…"

"Yes?"

"Did you have any makeup here? I didn't see any when I put your things into the boxes."

"I don't wear makeup. I never did."

Andrew moved closer to Misty, and looked at her face. "Well I'll be," he said while backing away, "you aren't wearing any makeup! Not even lipstick! I never even realized!"

"You didn't?"

"Honest to goodness, I didn't know that you never wore makeup before."

Andrew again moved closer, and held his right hand up to Misty's cheek, saying softly to her, "But that just goes to show… I love you for who you are, not for any mask or disguise." He leaned in slowly and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Andrew knew that Misty was beginning to blush; he could feel her cheek getting warm under his hand.

When he pulled away, Andrew looked at Misty, who had indeed begun to blush—quite furiously, in fact. His smile widened, and he said, "Even though I think you're beautiful as you are, I do think it's insanely cute when you blush." Misty wrapper her arms around Andrew's shoulders, and pulled herself tightly into him. Andrew returned the embrace, kissing her softly on the top of her head. They stood holding one another for some time.

"Okay you lovebirds," Rebecca said abruptly, startling both Misty and Andrew.

"Mother, would you please not do that?!" Andrew said. Misty was still holding onto him, but looking over at Rebecca, who was standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry," Rebecca started, "but seriously, I just wanted to let you know that when the traffic out here clears up some more, we'll need to go to the Gym to get Professor Oak's equipment, and bring it up here."

Andrew nodded, and said, "I'll head back out and see if it's cleared up a little bit."

Andrew patted Misty twice on the shoulder, and she released her embrace from him. He walked out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door. He forged through the trees until he could see the road that stretched away from his house. To his surprise, the traffic had cleared out significantly since he last checked. Only a few vehicles remained on the side of the road leading to the house.

Some of the vehicles moving away stopped alongside other vehicles, sat there momentarily, and then drove off. The other vehicle would then make a "U" turn, and leave, prompting a few other vehicles to do the same.

Andrew walked back over to the gate, and saw one of the last cars pull up and be turned away by the same few people that had been there earlier. As the last car turned away, Andrew revealed himself to the people that had been directing traffic, but none of them noticed.

Andrew walked up to the gate, still unnoticed, and said to the people, "Well, I must thank you for standing here and turning away all that traffic!"

The four that had been standing there jumped slightly when Andrew began to speak to them, and quickly looked over to him. "Mister Masako!" a brown-haired man exclaimed.

Andrew opened the gate, and stepped out. "So, about how many cars did you have to turn away? Were any of you counting?"

"I was," the only woman in the four said, "but I lost count at about a hundred and twenty."

"Wow, there were that many people that tried to come and see me? I didn't think there'd be that many."

"You've got to be kidding, mister Masako! You're one of the most talked-about trainers in the entire Kanto region!" said a blond man.

"I know that much, but most times, people respect my privacy. I don't understand why they're making such a fuss over it and trying to come see me like this."

"Everybody has their own reasons. I just came because I wanted to know why you decided to enter," a young man with curly hair said.

"Well, I mainly decided to enter because I figured that now would be the optimal time for it," Andrew stated. He crossed his arms and thought for a short moment, and said, "I would allow you all to come in, but I'm afraid that I've got other issues to attend to at the moment. However, please, allow me to at least give you something in return."

There was silence for a moment, and the woman asked, "May I have an autograph?"

Andrew nodded, and said, "That'll work. It's not much, and a tad cliché, but I don't want you all to go empty-handed."

The woman clasped her hands in glee, and exclaimed, "Oh thank you mister Masako! Thank you!" She then ran to what was presumably her car, reached through the fully lowered window, and pulled out an instant-photo camera. "Would it be all right if I also had my photo taken with you?"

"Certainly. It's no problem at all. Photos for all!"

She again exclaimed, "Thank you," and quickly handed her camera to the curly-haired man. She then ran and stood beside Andrew. The man held up the camera, and said "Cheese," as Andrew and the woman got into pose and smiled. The man pressed the shutter button, and a second later, a photo was produced. It was quickly set off to the side, as the blond man ran up to pose next to Andrew.

Once the photos had been taken, Andrew took his fashionable steel pen from a small pocket in his trench coat, and walked over to the car with the flattest trunk, where the four people were looking at their photos. As Andrew stepped over, he motioned for someone to hand him a photo. The first photo was of the curly-haired man. Readying the pen, Andrew asked, "Your name, sir?"

"Mitch," he replied. Andrew then wrote on the front of the photo, "**To Mitch: Thank you for your hospitality, and I hope that such kindness finds its way to you in the future.**" Underneath, he placed his signature, underlining it. He placed similar messages on the other photographs. After each person had their respective photograph, Andrew put his pen away and said, "Again, thank you all for being so kind as to take the time out of your day to stand here and turn away the traffic. It's fans like you that make me proud to be a trainer.

The four again said, "Thank you," and went to their respective cars. Andrew waved to them as they drove off. He walked back to the house, shouting, "Okay, the road's all clear," as he entered. Rebecca, who was tending to some things in the kitchen, looked over at Andrew confused, and asked, "Already?"

"Yeah. There were four people standing outside, turning away cars. One woman that was out there said that they had redirected one hundred and twenty cars before she lost count."

"Wow, that's certainly a lot of people," said Professor Oak, who had walked up beside Andrew.

"Yeah, it is. Let's head down to the Gym to get your equipment now."

Misty called from upstairs, "I'm coming too!"

Andrew, who had been standing in the recess with his boots on, merely chuckled, walked back outside, and walked over to the garage. As he opened the garage door, Professor Oak and Misty came walking out of the house. Andrew took his seat in the car, and Misty climbed in the back, sitting behind Andrew. Professor Oak sat down in the front passenger's seat. After all seat belts were fastened, Andrew started the car, and pulled out of the garage.

"So what kind of equipment have you brought, professor?" Andrew asked.

"Oh, just various devices. I got a lot of new equipment to check your Nidoking's strength, since what I used to have obviously didn't cut it."

"Are you sure that it'll hold? After all, I _know_ that you're aware of just how strong my Nidoking is. There's really not much that it can hit at full force without destroying."

"I know, but this has been rated to have a lot more durability and more ability to absorb blows than any other field-deployable device. They've even done tests where they drop cars weighing several tons from several stories high onto them, and they registered perfectly."

"Well, let's just hope that Nidoking doesn't wind up breaking another piece of equipment."

Some time later, they arrived in Cerulean City, and pulled up near Professor Oak's vehicle, which he'd moved to the Gym earlier. Andrew stepped out of the car, and said, "We'd better make this quick. If even one person catches sight of me here, we'll be stuck here for the rest of the day." They hurried into the Gym, where they noticed several challengers waiting in the lobby to battle for the Cascade Badge. They all began to chatter loudly as Andrew, Misty, and Professor Oak entered.

Daisy, who had been sitting at the front desk, monitoring the lobby, quickly stood up and shouted politely, "Be quiet, now! Professor Oak is only here to pick up some things, and I can only assume my sister and mister Masako are with him. Please leave them be." Andrew walked up to the desk, and said, "Thank you, Daisy," before following Professor Oak and Misty down the hall.

They took the equipment to Professor Oak's car, and packaged it in nicely. As they packed the last of the professor's equipment, Misty noticed something in the park. "Hey look, guys," she said, pointing, "That looks like Nurse Joy over there!" Andrew turned and looked, and said, "You're right, that is Nurse Joy. What's she running over here for?"

"Andrew!" Nurse Joy shouted as she spotted him. "What is it, Nurse Joy?" Andrew shouted back. Nurse Joy finished running up to him. "What's wrong, Nurse Joy? Why'd you run out here like this?" "Andrew, there's trouble up at the Pokémon Center. An argument broke out about you up there, and now it's total chaos. Daisy called and told me that you were here at the Gym earlier, so I rushed to come and get you as soon as possible."

Andrew sighed. "This isn't good." He turned to Professor Oak and Misty, and said, "Sorry professor, I'm going to have to go sort this out. Take your equipment back up to the house and have my mother help you. Misty, do you want to go with him, or do you want to come and help me with this? It's your choice." Misty stepped forward, and said, "I'll come with you." Andrew nodded, and started to run to the Pokémon Center, Misty and Nurse Joy behind him.

As the Pokémon Center came into view, Andrew noticed a swarm of people around the building. Some were grappling at one another, others were engaged in fierce and angry battles. Andrew ran up towards the crowd, and yelled with rage, "What are you people _doing_?!" The entire crowd fell silent and still. Andrew continued to address the crowd in an enraged tone, "Nurse Joy ran down to the Gym to bring me up here. She tells me that an argument broke out, and that everything up here was pure chaos. By the looks of it, she was right. What in the world were you people fighting about anyway?"

Someone shouted from the crowd, "Some fool over here said that he wanted to challenge you." Another voice added, "We called him crazy, and then some other people started arguing that they wanted to challenge you too, and before anyone knew what was going on, this happened."

"You mean to tell me that you are all clawing and fighting one another _because someone wanted to battle me_?! Don't you people realize how childish that is?! You all should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Andrew stomped towards the crowd with Misty and Nurse Joy close behind. As Andrew approached, the people moved away. He silently walked up to the door, and let Nurse Joy and Misty enter the Center. Before stepping in, Andrew shouted once more to the crowd, "Now go on with your lives, and stop this foolish mobbing." He walked into the Center, the automatic doors closing behind him.

Andrew angrily straightened his coat, a cloud of shoe dust blowing away from the base of it as it came down. He sighed once more, and said, "I just don't get people sometimes. They can get so violent over the smallest things."

"I agree," a deep and manly voice said. Andrew looked over to the left to see whom the voice belonged to. A man with an intimidating stare sat looking at Andrew. He stood up as Andrew looked at him. He was tall, and thick with muscles. He had long black hair, and a thick black trench coat. He had a well-trimmed goatee, and piercing dark blue eyes. "Who are you?" Andrew asked, "I could swear I've seen you before."

"I'm the one that wanted to challenge you, Andrew," he replied calmly. "I faced the Elites once when I was younger, and made it to the final. I wasn't able to defeat the mighty Lance, but I have battled him. For years, I have been training in a faraway land, trying to become strong enough to defeat Lance."

"Hmm. It would be safe to assume that you're a very strong trainer."

"Yes, you would be correct in your assumption. I knew that the only way to fully test my strength would be to challenge you, Andrew."

"Very well, then, sir. I accept your challenge. What is your name, if I may ask?"

"My name isn't of much importance, but if you must know, it's Alexander."

"_Why does this guy seem so familiar to me?_" Andrew thought. He turned to Misty, and asked, "Would you please act as the judge for this battle, Misty?" Misty nodded, and the three walked outside.

Many of the members of the crowd were still outside, but they had thankfully stopped their fighting, and many were simply training their Pokémon. As they saw Alexander walk from the Center behind Andrew, they gasped, and followed. Andrew stopped at a wide open spot in the park, and said, "This is the best battling spot in Cerulean. We'll battle here." Alexander nodded, and readied himself. "So what terms would you like, Andrew?"

"One on one with no time limit. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Misty stood nearby, and pulled a coin from her pocket. She flipped it up into the air, and put her foot over it as it fell to the ground. "Heads or tails?" she called. "Tails," Alexander said. Misty lifted her foot, and found that the coin had landed on the tails side. "Tails it is! Andrew sends out the first Pokémon!"

Andrew took a deep breath, and readied his Pokéball. "Charizard, let's do this!" he said, throwing the ball. In a flash of white light, Andrew's black and red Charizard appeared on the field and roared loudly. Alexander smirked, and threw his Pokéball forward, calling, "Go, Absol!"

Alexander didn't waste a second before calling out, "Shock Wave!" Absol reared back on its hind legs, and began to emit short blue arcs of electricity. "Keep your feet on the ground, Charizard!" Absol landed, and sent a sphere of electricity out and away from itself. It struck Charizard, and caused him to jolt only slightly. "Good job, Charizard! Hit back with Fire Spin!" "Absol! Keep your claws in the ground!" Charizard's Fire Spin whipped into a large and tornado-like vortex of raging flames, working its way towards Absol, who was clawed into the ground rather firmly. However, the ground gave way, and Absol was picked up into the air and sucked into the flames.

The flames had Absol engulfed for about 45 seconds before breaking. Absol fell to the ground, burnt and dizzy. It shakily stood up, as Alexander ordered, "Iron Tail!" Absol shook its dizziness off, and charged for Charizard, who had begun to fly up into the air. Absol leapt up and whipped around, striking Charizard hard in the stomach with the Iron Tail attack. Charizard flew back some distance, before it caught itself and descended somewhat. Andrew by then had already ordered, "Iron Tail it right back!"

"Absol, jump up and dodge it!" Alexander commanded. However, Charizard was descending on Absol from above. Absol had basically jumped right up to meet the Iron Tail attack, and was quite forcefully thrown right back into the ground. Absol managed to get onto its feet again, and Alexander called, "That's it! Blizzard!"

"Charizard, use Fire Spin to protect yourself." Both Pokémon sent their attacks at the same time, but Absol's Blizzard was completely unable to break through Charizard's flaming defense. Absol grew tired of attacking, and stopped, panting afterwards. "Charizard, let's finish this. Seismic Toss!"

Charizard flew over and grabbed Absol. Still low to the ground, Charizard spun around in place, and finally threw Absol into the ground with enough force to make a sizeable crater. As the dust from the impact cleared, Absol lied in the crater, breathing heavily. It struggled to get up, but stumbled and fell once again. Misty raised her arms and said, "That's it! Absol is no longer able to battle. Andrew wins the battle!"

The crowd burst into cheer, as Alexander returned Absol to its Pokéball. "That was a very good battle, Andrew," he said, "but tell me, why didn't you use your Nidoking?"

"My Nidoking is experienced enough. I want my other Pokémon to get more experience before I battle the Elite Four. Charizard needs the experience the most, and that's why I sent him. But yes, that was indeed a very good battle. Your Absol is quite strong."

"I remember when you didn't have any Pokémon at all. All you did all day was study, study, study."

"Who'd you say you were, again?"

"My name, you mean?"

"Yes, your name. What was your name, again?"

"My name is Alexander Masako."

Everybody within earshot froze.

"What?" Andrew uttered too quietly for anyone to hear, his face blank.

"What's the matter, Andrew?" Alexander asked.

"What are you doing here?" Andrew said, with long pauses between his words.

"I've been traveling around. When I stopped here, I heard all the ruckus about you challenging the Elite Four. Someone told me that you lived up near here, and that's when I made the comment that I wanted to battle you. I didn't figure that you'd be here in Cerulean at the time. What are the odds?"

Andrew didn't say a thing.

"Either way," Alexander continued, "I must say that I'm incredibly proud of you. I knew that you would turn out to be a strong trainer, but I never even dreamed that you would be this strong."

Andrew shook off his surprise and said, "Let's head back to the Pokémon Center. Your Absol was beaten pretty badly in that battle."

"You're right, I suppose I should. I'll see you at the Center," Alexander said, and began to walk off.

By this time, most of the crowd had picked up their jaws, so to speak, and many began to walk off and do their own things. Andrew walked over to Misty, who was looking in Alexander's direction. "That's your father?" she asked, "That really isn't what I expected him to be like." "I knew he looked familiar from when I first saw him. I'm surprised that I didn't realize it before." The two walked up to the Pokémon Center.

Alexander had already taken a seat at a table near the door. Andrew gave Charizard's Pokéball to Nurse Joy, saying, "I just came from a battle. Check to see if Charizard's okay, will you please?" "Sure thing, Andrew. It'll only be a few minutes," she replied, taking the Pokéball.

Andrew and Misty walked back to the table that Alexander was sitting at, and Alexander said, "You know, I was just thinking. You've really grown into a good looking young man, Andrew. I'm sure the ladies just throw themselves on to you."

"Sometimes, yeah, but none of them interest me at all."

"Oh? I would figure that someone as young and adventurous as you would have quite a full little black book, if you know what I mean."

"I'm only interested in one woman, and I don't keep a little black book anyway."

"Only one, eh? Is she nice, is she wild, is she sexy?"

Andrew wore a slightly annoyed expression, and said plainly, "She's sitting right across the table from you."

"Oh, she's your girlfriend, eh?" Alexander asked. He reached his hand halfway over the table, and said, "Pleased to meet you. I'm Alexander Masako." Misty reached over and shook Alexander's hand, replying, "Pleased to meet you too. I'm Misty Waterflower."

"You're one of the Gym Leaders here, aren't you, Misty?" Alexander asked.

"Yes, yes I am."

Alexander turned back to face Andrew, saying, "Your girlfriend's a Gym Leader, eh? That's my boy!"

Misty giggled slightly, and Andrew rolled his eyes, saying, "I've known her from when I first moved up here."

They continued talking for hours, until Andrew looked out the window, and saw that the sun was already falling below the horizon. "Wow," he said, "It's already sunset. I'd better head on home, it's been quite a day. If you want, by all means, don't be afraid to come and visit us sometime." "Well," Alexander started, "I'm sure that if I did, good ol' Becky would go nuts." He sat for a moment, thinking, "I suppose I'll take up on your offer and swing by sometime soon. Just don't tell Becky that I'm coming, since I wanna' surprise her."

Andrew and Misty bid their farewells to Alexander, and walked out of the Pokémon Center. As they walked across the park, Misty said, "Your dad's a very nice guy. He's really funny, too." Andrew chuckled, and said, "I suppose that's where I get my unique sense of humor from." They climbed into Andrew's car, which had been left untouched at the Gym, and drove back to Andrew's house.

When they arrived, Rebecca was just serving dinner. "Well, that took quite some time!" Rebecca said.

"What are you talking about?" Andrew asked.

"The mob at the Pokémon Center. Professor Oak told me about it."

"Oh yeah, that. It all started because some guy said he wanted to battle me. They called him crazy, and then started to argue about how _they_ wanted to challenge me. And by that time, the whole thing just fell apart."

Andrew and Misty finished their dinner relatively quickly. They talked with Professor Oak for a short while, and then were going to prepare for bed. "Wait a minute," Rebecca said as Andrew and Misty walked up the stairs. "I just remembered that there are only a few clean towels left, because I forgot to wash them. "Oh. Okay, then," Andrew said.

Andrew went into the bathroom first. He showered and climbed into the hot water. When he heard Misty knock at the door, he said "its okay," and heard her enter. When Misty finished showering, she put away the cleaning supplies and stepped into the hot water. When she was seated, Andrew reached behind her, and put his arm around her waist. But then he noticed something was wrong. He moved his hand to the upper middle of her back, then to the side of her hip.

He then drew his hand back quickly, and looked at her. She was blushing furiously, and her chin was very slightly under the surface of the water. "Misty!" Andrew said nervously but quietly, "why aren't you wearing a towel?!"

"Because, Andrew… If I did, I wouldn't have a towel to dry myself off with."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. The least you could have done was warned me though! If I had looked over at you when you climbed in, that would have been very embarrassing for the both of us!" Andrew sighed, and continued, "But whatever. Let's try not to think about it, okay?"

Andrew reached over and placed his arm around Misty's waist again, and gave her a soft kiss on her red and warm cheek. She smiled a little, and moved herself closer to him, until she was literally right up against him. She wrapped her arm over Andrew's shoulder, and rested her head up against his other shoulder. Andrew leaned his head to rest on hers, and they both sat in silence for a while.

"Its okay, Misty. You don't need to act like you've been punished or anything."

"No, I'm just thinking, is all," Misty said plainly.

"Okay, then."

Misty sat her head up, and reached around Andrew with her other arm, drawing herself into him. They moved to one of the corners, where Misty again laid her head on Andrew's shoulder, letting the full weight of her body press down on Andrew. Andrew had both of his arms around Misty as well, one around her waist; the other, the middle of her back. They sat in silence for several minutes.

Eventually, Andrew kissed Misty softly on the top of her head, and told her, "We'd better get dressed for bed." "You're getting out first," Misty said playfully. Andrew gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, and stood from the tub. He made sure that Misty was looking away before removing his towel, wringing it out, and walking back to the dressing room. He dried himself off, and put on his yukata. He walked out of the bathroom, and waited for Misty at the split in the path. When she walked out of the bathroom, Andrew directed her towards his room.

Once Misty and Andrew were in the room, Andrew shut the door, and said, "You can have the bed, I'll sleep here on the couch."

"Oh come on, Andrew. You know that I won't stand for that!"

"Oh no, I am _not_ letting you sleep on this couch. It's not fit for sleeping on, and _you_ know that I want you to sleep well."

"Fine then, we'll just both sleep in the bed then."

Andrew stopped, and gave Misty a questioning look. He was about to say something, but sighed at the last moment, saying, "Whatever. I'm too tired to discuss it any more."

Misty smiled, and climbed into the bed. Andrew moved over top of her and settled himself behind her. He took one of the pillows, and folded it over. Misty placed her head onto the pillow, and Andrew folded the other one over, and placed it on top of the first folded pillow, laying his head on the higher stack. He checked his alarm clock before remotely turning off the lights.

Andrew wrapped his arms around Misty, and held her close. She said quietly to him, "I don't know why, but this feels so cozy."

Andrew responded, "I bet you're glad that I decided to go along with it."

They both chuckled, and fell asleep.


	7. A Bold New Day

**Chapter 7: A Bold New Day**

Emotions. Andrew stood in the middle of the living room of his house. He looked around and saw that Misty was nearby, smiling warmly. Something felt different about everything, though. It was as though they were the only two people for miles. Andrew closed his eyes, and saw himself from a distance, standing in the living room.

Andrew saw himself close his eyes, and take a deep breath. As he exhaled, he seemed to be glowing. As time passed, the glow strengthened, until he was outlined by a brilliant while aura. His chest pulled forward, as though someone had grabbed him and pulled him by the shirt collar. As Andrew watched his duplicate, he saw a bright beam of white light emerge from his heart.

The white beam instantly connected to Misty, who also began to glow white. At this point, Andrew's perspective slowly returned to its rightful location, and he slowly moved towards Misty. Misty also began a slow and graceful advance towards Andrew, and they kissed as they connected with one another.

Andrew could see Misty's aura, even with his eyes closed. As they kissed, both she and Andrew's auras turned a soft golden color. Andrew opened his eyes and stared lovingly into Misty's. He took her hand in his, and began a slow and graceful dance with her.

As Andrew was more and more absorbed in Misty's beauty and grace, the world behind him seemed to fade into nothingness, leaving only him and Misty to dance slowly through the darkness. Everything faded to black eventually, but Andrew can still see Misty's silhouette, shown by her golden glow.

Slowly, everything began to fade in again. Andrew continued to look deeply into Misty's eyes, and the golden glow vanished. Though as her image faded back in, she appeared slightly older, and had long, flowing orange hair down her back. Around Andrew, everything was different as well. They were dancing in a restaurant that was built underwater, with the walls giving a view of the aquatic life outside. Andrew continued to slowly dance with Misty, which had been completely uninterrupted the whole time.

Misty was also slightly taller than normal. She wore a pair of glittering blue diamond earrings. They were pale, but had a highest-quality diamond's sparkle. Misty was also wearing a sparkling red dress that shined, as it was made of silk. Andrew had been wearing a formal tuxedo, with his hair neatly styled. A slow and romantic tune played, with Andrew and Misty dancing perfectly to its timing. The dance floor was clear, with the other occupants of the restaurant watching Andrew and Misty dance alone and in the light.

The song finished, and silence filled the hall. In front of everybody, Andrew kneeled, holding Misty's hand in his. He kept his gaze locked on to Misty's brilliant eyes. She carried a look as though she had suddenly realized something major. As Andrew continued to hold Misty's hands gently, he said softly, "Misty."

"We've shared a love between us that is more precious than life itself. I never want that love that we hold to vanish from us, and I feel that I must ask this."

Misty began to blush, as her eyes became glossy with tears. Andrew swiftly reached into his pocket and drew forth a small black velvet box. Opening it, he revealed a golden ring, with three blue diamonds around the base of a water drop-shaped stone of deep blue sapphire.

"Misty, I humbly beseech you, will you marry me?"

The tears that had welled up in Misty's eyes began to stream down the sides of her face, as she said in a choked-up voice, "Yes! I will marry you, Andrew!"

Andrew took the ring from the box, and gently slid it on to Misty's white-gloved hand. He stood, held her closely, and kissed her passionately. The other occupants in the restaurant cheered and applauded. The scene faded with an image of Andrew and Misty embraced and kissing.

Andrew's eyes opened quickly, and the first thing he saw was the shoulder-length orange hair of Misty, who had been in Andrew's embrace throughout the night. As he came from his dazed and confused state, he realized that he had been dreaming. He smiled as he recalled what a beautiful dream it had been. He sat up slightly, and looked at his alarm clock.

It was mere minutes before his alarm was set to blare, so he gently reached over Misty and turned off the alarms. Leaning over Misty, he kissed her gently on the cheek, but she didn't even stir. "Misty? Misty, it's time to wake up," he said softly and quietly into her ear. Again, Misty didn't respond.

On a whim, Andrew reached up to the wall at the head of the bed, and knocked sharply upon it twice. Misty's eyes swiftly opened. A second later, she began to scan the room front of her quickly. She rolled back slightly, and looked at Andrew, smiling. Andrew was still propping himself up with one arm, leaning over her. He smiled back, and said softly, "Good morning, Misty."

Andrew leaned down and kissed Misty on the cheek, asking, "Did you sleep well?"

"It was heavenly. I had the most wonderful dream, too."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "You had a dream last night? I had one as well."

"Yeah, we were dancing in this beautiful underwater restaurant, and you proposed to me."

Andrew's eyes widened. "Unbelievable!" he said, "I had the exact same dream, where I asked you to marry me. It was in an underwater restaurant and everything."

"Perhaps that was more than a dream, then," Misty trailed off, smirking.

"Perhaps, but I can't get over how beautiful you looked with that long flowing hair."

"Maybe I'll grow it out just for you, honey," Misty said half-jokingly.

"Honey?" Andrew asked humorously. "If you're going to start calling me by pet names, then I guess I'll have to think up one for you!" He then began to ramble off nicknames. "Let's see, how about sweetheart? Nah, too typical. Darling? Too southern. Ooh, how about honey? Oh wait, that one's already been taken. How about sweetie? Eh, I don't like the ring of it."

Misty laughed, and pushed Andrew playfully, and he fell over from his propped up position over her. Andrew laughed as Misty rolled over some more to look at him. Andrew calmed down, and looked into Misty's eyes, smiling warmly. He gently cradled her cheek in his hand, and said softly to her, "I think I'll just refer to you as my beloved."

Andrew shifted himself closer to Misty, and kissed her on the lips, as she—almost instinctively—wrapped her arms around him. He rested his forehead against hers, and stared lovingly into her eyes. They lied there in the bed for several minutes, simply staring into each others' eyes.

Andrew blinked a few times, and sat up in the bed. "Well," he said, "Today's another day, and we can't let it just pass us by!" Misty nodded, and stood from the bed, stretching and running her fingers through her hair a few times. Andrew stood and stretched as well, and they both walked out of the room, and to the bathroom to brush their teeth. As they finished, Misty walked into the changing room, and Andrew looked in the mirror.

"Hmm, stubble," Andrew said to himself, rubbing his chin. He passed the time waiting for Misty to finish bathing by shaving. "Good thing my facial hair grows _really_ slowly," he said to himself in the mirror. When he finished, he walked into the changing room, and knocked on the bathing room door. "I'm not done yet," Misty called from inside. "Okay then," Andrew replied, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Okay!"

Andrew walked to the sunroom at the back of the house, and gazed at Mt. Moon. After a few minutes, he walked back to the changing room, and knocked on the door. "You done in there, Misty?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm done. You can come in now."

Andrew undressed himself, grabbed a towel, and walked into the bathroom. He checked to see that Misty was facing away from him, and then washed himself. When he finished, he wrapped the towel around his waist and eased himself into the hot water. He looked over to Misty, and wrapped his arm around her.

"So, about the dream you had last night. How did it start for you?" Andrew asked.

"Well, I was standing in the living room, here at this house. Then, I saw myself standing there, facing you. You started to glow white, and this bright line of light came from your heart, and connected with mine. Then we walked towards each other and kissed."

"When we kissed, did the glow around me turn gold?"

"Yes, it did."

"My dream started the exact same way, except it was from my perspective, not yours. I saw myself glow white, and I saw the beam of light that connected us as well."

"As we were dancing, the scene changed over to that underwater restaurant that I told you about."

"Yeah, it did for me, too"

"As the view of that restaurant faded in, I noticed that you looked slightly shorter."

"You looked taller to me."

"I'm not too sure of what I was wearing, but I know I had on long white gloves. Oh, but the tuxedo you were wearing and the way you had your hair styled made you look so handsome!"

"Oh, if you thought I looked good, you should have seen how you looked. You were wearing this gorgeous red silk dress that had a glittery sparkle to it. You were also wearing these absolutely perfect _blue _diamond earrings. They weren't too large or too small, and the way they shined, you should have seen it! And your hair, oh, your hair! It was long, reaching down to near your rear end, and it puffed out, and looked so light and soft. You were just so unbelievably beautiful."

"And then you got down on one knee, talked to me about how much you loved me, then pulled out this beautiful ring."

"Let's see. Was it a thin gold band with three pale blue diamonds and a rich blue sapphire on it?"

"That's exactly what it looked like."

"Then I proposed to you."

"And I accepted."

"And then I stood up, put my arms around you, and kissed you. The rest of the people that were in the restaurant started cheering. That's when the dream ended for me."

"When we kissed, everything faded to black, and I couldn't hear anything. Then I felt something on my cheek, and heard you saying something to me. Then I woke up."

Andrew chuckled, and said, "That's because I kissed you on the cheek when I woke up, but you didn't move. I tried saying that it was time for you to wake up, but you still didn't do anything. But as soon as I knocked on the wall, your eyes opened right up! Is that the only way that you wake up?"

"Well, I'll wake up by myself eventually, but hearing a knock does wake me right up."

"How do you wake up when you're at your house?"

"My alarm clock has an ability that allows me to record my own sound, so I just have it play a sound of two knocks on a door, and it works fine."

"I suppose I'm going to have to start finding other ways of waking you up, then."

Misty giggled, saying, "Perhaps, but the knocking will do for now."

As she finished her sentence, she stood from the tub, and Andrew kissed her lightly on her hand as she stepped out. He turned away as she removed her towel and left the bathroom. A short time later, Andrew left the bathroom as well.

As he walked over to his room, he remembered that Misty would have to dress in his room. He stopped at his door, and knocked upon it.

"I'm in the closet, but you can come in."

Andrew stepped into his room, and closed the door behind him.

"I'm going to put some underclothes on, so don't come out of the closet until I say, okay?"

"All right, Andrew."

Andrew quickly dressed himself in some gray underclothing, and put on a pair of tan pants. "All right, I'm decent," he said. As Andrew was shifting through his dresser to look for a suitable shirt, Misty looked around the doorway at him. She retreated back into the closet before he noticed her looking at him. He picked out a forest green shirt, and put it on. Looking down at himself, he muttered, "I suppose this'll do."

He took a step over towards the closet, and asked, "Misty, are you about done in there?" While waiting for a response, he pulled out a pair of socks from his dresser, and walked over to his bed.

As Andrew started to put his socks on, Misty said from inside the closet, "I'm not sure which of these shirts I should wear." She walked from the closet, wearing a pair of light-colored denim shorts, and a white bra with no straps. She was carrying two shirts.

Andrew looked up at her, blushed, and said, "How about at least putting on _a_ shirt first? You aren't decent."

"Oh shush. You've seen me in a bikini a million times before, why's this any different?"

"Because a bikini is meant to be seen. Underwear isn't. Either way, what were you going to ask?"

"Which one of these do you think looks better?"

Misty held up a light pink shirt to her upper body and said, "This one?" She then did the same with the other shirt that she was carrying—lavender—asking, "Or this one?"

"Hmm," Andrew uttered. A few seconds later he said, "The lavender one."

"Okay!" Misty said cheerfully, and rushed back into the closet. Seconds later, she walked back out, wearing the lavender shirt. She was also carrying Andrew's tan trench coat, folded over her arm. She walked over to him, and handed him the coat.

"Thanks, Misty," Andrew said while taking the coat and putting it on. After shrugging his shoulders quickly to straighten the coat, he gave Misty a small kiss on her cheek.

Andrew walked over and sat down at his desk chair. He opened and started up his laptop, as Misty stood behind him. When Andrew logged onto his desktop, Misty pointed over Andrew's shoulder at the laptop's screen and said, "Hey! I've never seen that desktop picture before!"

"Yeah, I made it a few weeks ago," Andrew responded. The image was what looked like a bulletin board, with three photographs tacked to it. One was a small photograph of Andrew with his trophy from the Indigo League Competition. Another was a small picture of Mt. Moon, taken from right behind Andrew's house. The final—and by far, the largest—picture on the image was of Misty, taken from a vacation to Seafoam Island a few months earlier.

"I remember when that photo of me was taken," Misty said, "It was when we were watching that sunset on Seafoam Island."

"I know," Andrew replied, "I was the one that took the photo. This one's actually a scan of that one." Andrew pointed to a framed photograph—showing the same scene—that was sitting next to his television set.

Misty walked over to the photo and picked it up. "I didn't even notice this sitting here," she said.

"It's okay, I didn't notice the photo I gave you for your eighteenth birthday sitting in the guest room. That is, until I put it in the box with your other clothes."

"Yeah, I saw it sitting on top of everything in the box yesterday." Misty walked into the closet, and emerged moments later, carrying the photo of Andrew in both hands. She set it next to her photo by Andrew's television.

Andrew had begun to check his email, and came upon the message sent from Lorelei. Remembering that he hadn't had the chance to read it yesterday, he took a moment to read it. Misty wrapped her arms around Andrew from behind, rested her chin on his shoulder, and read the message as well.

From: Lorelei Mutawa

To: Andrew Masako

Dear Mr. Masako,

I must say that was a rather quick decision on your part. I'll be preparing for the battle. Although they're not as vocal about it as I am, Lance, Agatha, and Bruno are greatly looking forward to battling you as well.

On a completely unrelated note, would you be interested in meeting for lunch sometime? I'm interested to learn a little bit more about you before we battle.

Sincerely,

Lorelei Mutawa of the Elite Four

"Interesting," Andrew said. He tapped the _Reply_ button, and began to type.

From: Andrew Masako

To: Lorelei Mutawa

Dear Ms. Mutawa,

First off, my apologies for not replying sooner (Situations arose that required my immediate attention). I'm glad to hear that the other Elites are interested in battling me as well. As for meeting for lunch, I wouldn't mind at all. Where would you prefer to meet? I'll be heading down to Vermilion later today. Perhaps we could meet there? And also, I may bring my girlfriend along with me, right?

Sincerely,

Andrew Masako

"Well, that's that for that," Andrew said. He quickly browsed over the other mail he had, and sorted the messages to the appropriate folders. He exited his mail program, and closed his laptop.

Andrew reached up and placed his hands over Misty's, which she had held together on Andrew's chest. As Andrew placed his hands over Misty's, she moved her head closer to Andrew, nuzzling her chin at the base of his neck. They sat this way for a short time, with their eyes closed.

Eventually, Andrew opened his eyes. "I smell food," he said. Misty sniffed the air and said, "Yeah, I do too. I guess your mother is making breakfast."

"Let's eat. Then we'll head up to the Gym and see when Rose will be arriving."

"Okay."

Misty removed herself from Andrew, as he stood from his desk chair. When they walked out of the room, Andrew looked down into the kitchen as he walked across the path. He saw Rebecca preparing sausage and pancakes. They walked down the stairs, and over to the breakfast bar. Professor Oak was nowhere to be seen. Rebecca turned around and saw them.

"Good morning you two," she said, "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept very well. Andrew's bed is so comfortable," Misty said.

"I take it you slept on your couch, Andrew?" Rebecca asked.

"No," Andrew replied, laughing, "Misty wouldn't let me."

"I sure hope you two weren't fooling around," Rebecca said sarcastically.

"Oh come on, mother," Andrew exclaimed, "You know Misty and I wouldn't do that!"

Rebecca laughed slightly, as she placed the pancakes and sausage onto plates. "Professor," she called to the room above, "Breakfast is ready!"

"I'll be down in just a moment," the professor's muffled voice came from inside the guest room. A few seconds later, he stepped from the room, straightening a deep red vest he was wearing.

As Professor Oak sat down, he placed a newspaper on the bar.

"May I see that newspaper for a second, professor?" Andrew asked, pointing to the newspaper.

"Sure, go right ahead," the professor replied, "It's yours, anyway."

As Rebecca was placing the breakfast plates on the bar, Andrew opened the newspaper. The first thing he saw was, "**MASAKO CHALLENGES ELITE FOUR**" in large, bold letters. Below the title was a black-and-white photo of Andrew holding his Indigo League Competition trophy. He was standing amongst his Pokémon and various people, including Misty and Rebecca.

Andrew quickly read the short article about his entry, before placing the newspaper off to the side to eat. Between mouthfuls of pancakes, Andrew asked Misty, "So, do you think that the Gym's gotten any flyers to put up yet?"

"They'll probably get them later today. That is, if they're going to get any flyers at all today," Misty replied.

"My guess is that they will, considering how hot this news seems to be," Andrew said.

"Oh well, what can you do," Misty asked rhetorically.

"I dunno. Maybe shield yourself in a Plexiglas dome and hope that there's not another flood of fanatics," Andrew responded sarcastically. Misty and Rebecca laughed at the comment.

"So, Andrew," Professor Oak began, "Will you be available for me to check your Pokémon today?"

"Afraid not, Professor," Andrew said, "Misty and I are going to be heading down to Vermilion City today, though I'll leave my Pokémon here, so you can check them. I don't want to keep you here any longer than you need to be.

"I suppose that'll do, then," Professor Oak said.

As Andrew finished his breakfast, he took the plate over to the sink and rinsed it. Rebecca and Professor Oak had already finished their breakfast, since they hadn't had as much to eat. Andrew sat down next to Misty, and waited patiently for her to finish eating. When she finished, he grabbed her plate, and gave her a small peck on the cheek. He took the plate over to the sink and rinsed it as well. He placed all the dishes that were in the sink into the dishwasher.

After Andrew closed the dishwasher, he walked upstairs, and into his room. He collected his four Pokéballs, and walked back out of the room. Standing on the path, he released the four Pokémon to the floor below. Andrew addressed them shortly after they appeared.

"Okay guys," Andrew said, "Professor Oak has some new equipment, and he's hoping that this time, he can get some real statistical data. He also says that it'll be strong enough to stand up to your attacks, but honestly, I don't think they will." Andrew looked down to Professor Oak, and added, "Sorry in advance if they wind up breaking your equipment again."

"Oh, I'm fairly certain that they're not going to break it this time," the professor said, "It's the latest—and strongest—technology available. When I went to talk to a few other professors about it, they had asked me what I needed something so strong for. You should have seen the way they looked when I told them I was trying to obtain some strength readings on your Nidoking."

Andrew laughed heartily. Professor Oak said in response, "Oh, your Pokémon are _quite_ well known amongst the scientific community."

"I know, professor," Andrew said, "I was just thinking of how they must have looked. But anyway, there they are. They shouldn't be too much trouble for you."

Andrew walked back into his room, and opened his laptop up. As he opened it, it woke up. "_Silly me,_" Andrew thought, "_I forgot to shut it down. Oh well, at least it's plugged in._"

Andrew opened his email program again, and waited for it to download the new email he had received. Misty walked into the room as Andrew noticed that he had already received a response from Lorelei.

"Well, that was quick," Andrew said.

"What?" Misty asked, intrigued.

"Lorelei already sent me a response."

"Already? She must have checked her email recently."

"Let's see what it says."

Misty walked over to a spot where she could see the laptop's screen easily. Andrew opened the email, and they began to read.

From: Lorelei Mutawa

To: Andrew Masako

Dear Mr. Masako,

You're going to be heading down to Vermilion City today? What a coincidence; I'm here as I write this, and I'll be here for most of the day. We can meet today, then.

If you want to bring your girlfriend along, I have absolutely no qualms about it.

Sincerely,

Lorelei Mutawa of the Elite Four

"Well, I suppose that settles it, then," Andrew said, "Let's go find out what time Rose will be arriving, and see what we can do."

"Okay," Misty replied. "I can't believe we're actually going to be meeting Lorelei for lunch!"

"Calm down, Misty," Andrew said, "there's no need to get hyper over it."

"I know, but you know how much I idolize Lorelei."

"I know, I know. Let's head over to the Gym now."

Misty nodded, and moved so Andrew could get out of his desk chair. Andrew shut off his laptop, and grabbed his laptop bag. He checked to make sure the spare battery was well charged, and removed his laptop from the docking bay that it was connected to on his desk. He carefully placed the laptop into the bag, and closed it.

"I'll probably need to send some email after we leave, so I'm going to bring this along," Andrew said, standing up with the bag's handle in his hand.

Misty and Andrew walked out of the house, and over to Andrew's car. Andrew placed the laptop bag in a storage compartment underneath the back seat, as Misty watched him from the front passenger's seat. Once the laptop bag was secured, Andrew folded the back of the driver's seat up, and sat down in it. They fastened their seatbelts, and Andrew started the engine.

Some minutes later, they arrived in Cerulean City. Andrew pulled into a parking space in front of the Gym, and shut off the car. He and Misty stepped out of the car, and walked up to the Gym's doors. A sign was hanging on the inside of the door, that read, "**The Gym is closed today. Please come back tomorrow.**"

Misty opened the Gym door, and walked in, Andrew following a short distance behind. As they stood in the lobby of the Gym, they saw Violet walk from one of the hallways that led away from the lobby.

"Like, hey guys," Violet said, "How have ya been?"

"Fine, thanks," Misty replied, smiling, "And you?"

"Like, pretty good."

"Where's Daisy at?"

"Oh, she's, like, at the house right now. I'm the only one here."

"Oh, okay. Do you know when mom's going to arrive in Vermilion?"

"The boat's not going to get there until, like, five or so."

"Okay, then. We were just wondering, since Lorelei asked Andrew to join her for lunch in Vermilion today."

"Lorelei's meeting Andrew for lunch?! Wow!"

"Yeah, but I've asked her if Misty can come along as well, and she said it was all right," Andrew chimed in.

"Wow, like, lucky you," Violet said. "But anyway, I've got to, like, close up the Gym now. Daisy, Lily, and I were about to go to the mall for a while."

"Okay, I'm going to go and talk to Daisy for a second," Misty concluded. She and Andrew walked out of the Gym, and over to her house. Misty walked into the house first, and was quickly greeted by Daisy.

"Oh, like, hi Misty. Where's Violet?"

"She's just finishing closing up the Gym. She'll be here in a minute."

"Okay. I, like, really want to go to the mall as soon as possible before we leave to meet mom."

"Daisy, I wanted to ask you a question."

"Like, yeah, Misty? What is it?"

"Did you already tell mom about Andrew being my boyfriend?"

"No, I didn't. It, like, totally slipped my mind when she called yesterday."

"Okay, could you please _not_ tell her? I want to tell her myself."

"Like, okay, Misty."

Violet walked into the house.

"Like, okay," Violet said, "The Gym's all closed up."

Daisy turned and shouted up the nearby staircase, "Like, come on, Lily! Violet's got the Gym all closed up! Let's go!"

"Well, we'll leave you three to your business, then," Andrew said, "Misty and I have got to get down to Vermilion to meet up with Lorelei."

"Lorelei?" Daisy asked, shocked.

"Like, yeah," Violet said, "Misty told me that Lorelei invited Andrew to join her for lunch, and Misty's going with him."

"Wow, you're, like, so lucky!" Lily said from the staircase, apparently having heard everything.

"Yeah, well, we've got to get going now," Misty said, already heading towards the door. "Have fun at the mall you guys!"

As Misty and Andrew walked out of the door, Daisy waved and said, "Like, bye you guys! See you in Vermilion later!"

They walked back over to Andrew's car, and got in. Andrew quickly pulled his laptop out, and sent an email to Lorelei, notifying her that they'd be down in Vermilion by about 10:30 or so. Once the email had sent, Andrew shut the laptop off, and put it back in the bag. He quickly put the bag back under the rear seat, fastened his seatbelt, and started the car. He drove out of Cerulean, heading due south.

"So, what kinds of questions do you think she's going to ask, Andrew?" Misty asked.

"I don't know, but I bet that she's not going to talk about battling much at all."

"Why do you say that?"

"You saw the email; she wants to get to know me better. From how I take that, she wants to know more about _me_, not my battling."

"Ah, I get it. Where do you think we'll be meeting?"

"Probably some small restaurant with a nice view of the bay. From what I can tell, she doesn't seem to have a flair for the flashy."

"You never know, I've seen all of her demonstrations and social appearances. In some of them, she's been dressed up pretty nicely."

"Were they more formal meetings?"

"No, not really. Some were, but most weren't."

"Oh well, most people feel like showing off from time to time. Some more than others, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"I wonder how Rose has been lately."

"From what my sisters told me when they called your house yesterday, she's doing fine. They told me that she's coming in on a really nice boat, but they didn't know which."

"I don't know all the nice boats they have down in Vermilion. The only one I know about is the Saint Anne, but that's a cruise liner, not a ferry boat."

"Some of the ferries they have down there are really nice as well. For example, there's The Baroness. That's one of the best."

"Again, I wouldn't know. My mother told me once of when I was young, and lived in Fuchsia City. She said that I always used to go to the highest of the hills that could see the bay, and just watch the ships go in and out. If you had binoculars, you could _just_ see Vermilion across the bay, she said."

"Do you remember a lot from when you lived in Fuchsia?"

"Not really. Most of what I had experienced down there involved me learning to train Pokémon, and my schooling. I had a very boring early childhood."

"So did I. My mother trained me extensively in catching, raising, and battling Pokémon. She didn't teach my sisters _nearly_ as much about Pokémon as she taught me. That's probably why they don't like battling nearly as much. What's odd, though, is that they went through more schooling than I did, yet it almost seems like they don't use what they've learned."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Everybody has their own little quirks, I suppose. You've got to give them credit, though: they do take very good care of the Gym."

"That's only so that they can use it for water shows. They only use it for battle because of me, and because it's what our mom almost always used it for. She'd give a performance once and a while, but not anywhere _near_ as often as my sisters do."

"I wonder if they'd ever let you in on one of their performances."

"They've done, a couple times, in fact. Though usually, it's only when they're desperate for another. For example, they _always_ ask me to help them whenever they do that mermaid play, because they're busy doing the other three roles."

"Oh yes, I remember that play. I've only actually seen it once. Now that I think about it, though, I wouldn't mind playing a role in the play, so long as they cast you to be a suitable parallel, of course."

Misty laughed. "You never know," she said, "maybe one day they'll work up the guts to ask you."

Andrew laughed, and he and Misty continued to talk during the length of the drive to Vermilion City. As they reached the peak of a large hill, the bright, glittering water of the bay could be seen, as well as the many ships in the port. Misty pointed to the largest of the boats visible, and exclaimed, "Look! It's the Saint Anne!"

"Well I'll be. I would have figured it would be out on the seas right now."

"Can we go and see it, please?"

"Sure thing, Misty. I just want to find the Pokémon Center here first."

Andrew entered the city, and immediately began following various street signs, attempting to find the Pokémon Center. He found it without too much trouble, and pulled into the parking lot. Most of the city was on a hill, and there was a clear line of sight to the boats in the port. The St. Anne stuck out amongst the smaller ships, since it was significantly larger than the other ships around it.

Misty stepped out of the car, and breathed in the sea breeze. Andrew pulled his laptop bag out from under the back seat, and then stepped out of the car. They shut the doors, and Andrew made sure that they were locked, before they entered the Pokémon Center.

They walked in, and Misty took a seat near one of the windows that viewed the port. Andrew sat down opposite the small, round table from her, and pulled out his laptop. Upon waiting for it to finish starting, Andrew looked out the window at the ships as well.

"You've got to admit, it is a pleasing sight indeed," Andrew said.

"Yeah, isn't it lovely," Misty said dreamily.

"I wonder what it looks like during the sunset."

Andrew could see Misty's eyes widening at the thought. He laughed as his laptop finished starting. His laptop detected that it wasn't docked, and prompted Andrew to place his thumb onto a fingerprint scanner. After the scan accepted Andrew's thumb print, he opened his email application.

Andrew quickly wrote a short email to Lorelei, notifying her of his arrival in Vermilion. He added that they were currently in the Pokémon Center. Before shutting his laptop off, he checked the time.

"Hmm, it's ten twenty-seven. We've actually gotten here a little bit faster than I expected. Either way, Lorelei should be checking her email shortly, since I told her that we'd arrive at about ten thirty."

"She'll be here soon?" Misty asked. She quickly followed with more questions. "Does my shirt have any wrinkles in it? Do you think I should put my hair up, or leave it down? Does my perfume smell good?"

"Calm down, Misty," Andrew said, laughing slightly, "it's not that big of a deal. And if you must know, no, leave it down, and it smells wonderful."

"Okay then," Misty sighed, trying to keep herself calm.

"Well, I'm going to make a quick call home, and let my mother know I've arrived here okay."

"All right."

Andrew stood from the table, and walked over to a row of video phones. He pulled the handset off the hook, and dialed his home number. A few seconds later, Rebecca picked up the phone.

"Masako residence, Rebecca Masako speaking."

"Hi mom, it's me, Andrew."

The screen turned on, showing Rebecca at the phone. "Hi Andrew!" she exclaimed.

"I just called to let you know that I'm in Vermilion City."

"Oh, you're there already?"

"Yeah, I'm calling from the Pokémon Center here."

"Did you find out when Rose's boat will arrive?"

"Yeah, it's not going to be here until five this evening."

"Then why are you there so early?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I received an email from Lorelei yesterday, and she asked me to join her for lunch. I sent her an email this morning, telling her that I was coming down here, and she replied, saying that she was down here too. So, we arranged to meet shortly after I got down here. Right now, she's probably just reading the email I sent her, telling her that I made it here."

"Oh, okay then. Take care, honey!"

"One last thing before you go, mom…"

"Yes?"

"Has the professor finished his analysis of my Pokémon?"

"Yes, he has. He went down to the Pokémon Center about ten minutes ago."

"All right. He's probably arrived there by now, so I'll send a call."

"Okay then."

"Talk to you later, mom!"

"Take care, honey!"

Andrew hung up the phone, waited for a moment, and pulled it off the hook again. He dialed in another number, for the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City. A moment later, the image of Nurse Joy appeared on the screen.

"Cerulean City Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hello, Nurse Joy?"

"Oh, hello Andrew. What is it you need?"

"I was wondering if Professor Oak was there."

"Just a moment."

Andrew saw Nurse Joy look away from the camera, as she scanned the Pokémon Center for any sign of Professor Oak. Her face lit up slightly, a dead giveaway that she saw him. She turned back to the camera, and said, "Yes, he just walked in. I'll put him on in a moment."

Andrew waited for a few moments, as the video screen displayed the Pokémon Center's logo, with the words "**Please Wait**" Printed under it. Shortly after, the screen switched to the image of Professor Oak. "Why hello there, Andrew!" he said.

"Hi professor. My mother told me that you've finished examining my Pokémon."

"Yes, I have. This time, however, I had your Pokémon attack the target in reverse order. Your Nidoking still wound up breaking the target, however."

"I told you he would, professor!" Andrew exclaimed, smirking.

"It stood up to a few attacks, but it was crushed just like the other one when I asked Nidoking to use Iron Tail on it. That's a _very_ powerful attack!"

"Did you have Nidoking use Thrash on it? That would have probably broken it, too."

"Thankfully, no, I didn't. Either way, I found out something very interesting about your Nidoking."

"What's that, professor?"

"He's almost level three hundred."

"What?" Andrew asked, somewhat shocked.

"Your Nidoking's level is two hundred and eighty-four."

"I don't have much faith in the level number system, but you've got to admit, that's a very serious number. I can see why the old software couldn't read it."

"Well, even with the new software, a proper reading still took a very long time. Anyway, I've got your four Pokéballs here. Would you like me to send them over to you?"

"Yes, I would."

"Where are you at?"

"Vermilion City's Pokémon Center."

"Okay then. You'll have your Pokémon in a few moments."

"Thanks, professor."

"It's no problem at all."

Andrew hung up the phone after the screen shut off. "Two hundred and eighty-four," Andrew said quietly to himself, "That's a lot of bargaining power."

About half a minute later, Andrew looked over at Nurse Joy, who came from the back room, carrying a tray with four Pokéballs on it. "Is Andrew Masako here?" she said loudly.

"Over here," Andrew said, raising his arm to get Nurse Joy's attention.

"You have four Pokéballs sent from Cerulean City."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy."

"It's no problem at all."

Andrew collected his four Pokéballs, and released his Nidoking. Nidoking appeared in a flash of light. His darker gray shades were a stark contrast to the white and light pastel colors of the Pokémon Center. "Hey Nidoking, did ya miss me?"

Nidoking growled happily.

"Wow, you really are _the_ Andrew Masako," Nurse Joy said, surprised.

Andrew gave her a confused look, and said, "I didn't realize that there were any others."

"Oh, there have been many, many people who have tried to claim that they were you."

"It happens, I suppose."

"I guess."

Andrew turned back to his Nidoking. He didn't notice that the three people in the Pokémon Center besides Misty were all staring at him and his Nidoking. "So Nidoking," Andrew began, "I heard you broke the scale again!"

Nidoking roared again, as Andrew continued, "I also hear that your level is two hundred and eighty-four now."

One of the people who were watching Andrew started to cough, as he had gasped and sucked in his drink. Andrew continued to talk to Nidoking, saying, "Now Nidoking, I know that you know that I have almost no faith in the level system. I _know_ you're a lot stronger than some number says you are!"

Nidoking roared proudly, as Andrew finished by saying, "Okay now, Nidoking. It's time for you to chill in your Pokéball for now."

Nidoking calmed down, and Andrew returned him to the Pokéball, and clipped the ball to his belt. He walked back over to the table where Misty had been sitting. As he walked, the three people that had been staring at him continued to gawk at him as he passed. He sat down next to Misty, who looked over to him, and said, "So, Professor Oak sent your Pokémon back, eh?"

"That he did. He told me that Nidoking was level _two hundred and eighty-four_!"

"I heard. That's incredible, Andrew!"

"Well, you know that I believe that Nidoking is _far_ stronger than some stupid number."

"You're right. Say, I wonder when Lorelei's going to get here?"

"Let me check and see if she sent me an email."

Andrew slid his laptop over towards him, and opened it up. As he waited for it to start, he turned around to the three that were _still_ staring at him, and said calmly, "You can go on with your lives, now. There's nothing new to see."

The three people quickly went back to what they had been doing previously. Andrew turned back to the laptop, and placed his thumb on the scanner. He then checked his email, and found he had a message. He read it, and closed his email program. He lowered the screen slightly, and said to Misty, "Well, she's on her boat right now. She said she'd be docking at pier D-seven, fortieth space."

"Where's that at?"

Andrew looked out the window, saying, "My guess would be that it's probably not one of those piers. The ones down there seem to be used only for large cruisers and ferries. If anything, the personal docks are probably at a marina nearby. Considering that she gave us the exact location of where she'd be docking at, I can only assume she wants us to meet her there. I suppose we can stop and check out the Saint Anne as we pass by."

"Yay! Let's go!"

"Okay, okay, give me a minute while I pack up my laptop."

Andrew shut off his laptop, and put it back in its bag. Before closing it, he pulled out a slip of paper, and a pen, and quickly wrote down "**D-7, 40**" onto it. He put the pen back in the bag, and zipped the bag shut. He put the slip of paper in his pocket, grabbed the laptop bag, and stood from the chair.

Andrew and Misty walked out to the car, and Andrew put his laptop bag underneath the back seat. He then sat in the driver's seat, as Misty was waiting for him in the passenger's seat. He drove down the road that was leading towards the dock where the St. Anne had been sitting. As he neared, he pulled into a parking lot, and they both stepped out of the car.

They walked across the docks, and neared the majestic St. Anne. Misty stared up at it in wonderment, and said, "Wow, it's so _huge_! Every time I see it, it always seems larger!"

Andrew looked up at it as well, and said, "It seems as though the reconstruction of it went flawlessly."

"It's a shame that the original one was destroyed."

"Well, you can blame Team Rocket for that one. At least you knew the ship inside and out. If you didn't, we'd probably wind up as six human casualties at the old Saint Anne's final resting place."

"Six?" Misty asked, looking towards Andrew.

"Remember, while we were trying to get out, we came across those two bumbling idiots from Team Rocket."

"Oh yeah, _those_ two. I haven't seen them for ages!"

"Who knows? Maybe they finally gave up, or got caught."

"Maybe," Misty said. She looked back up at the ship. A few moments passed in silence, and Misty eventually said, "I'd love to take a _real_ cruise on this ship!"

"Hmm," Andrew said, rubbing his chin in thought, "Perhaps we could go for a cruise some time."

"Oh, do you mean it?" Misty asked excitedly.

"Sure, why not. It could just be you and I. How about after I'm done with the Elite Four later?"

"That'd be wonderful!" Misty said with glee. She quickly hugged Andrew tightly, and exclaimed, "Thank you _so_ much!"

"It's nothing, really," Andrew said, "Besides; it'll be a _great_ way to relax after I battle the Elites." He recalled the message from Lorelei.

"Speaking of Elites," he said, "Let's go to the marina so we can meet up with one."

Misty let go of Andrew, and they walked quickly back to the car. Andrew drove along the roads near the bay. In the distance, Misty noticed the masts of various sailboats. She pointed towards them and said, "The marina we're looking for is probably over there."

"That'd be my guess. Let's go look."

A few minutes later, they passed by the entrance to the set of docks. A large sign, reading "**Serenity Marina**" stood over the entrance. Andrew parked the car close to the docks, and he and Misty stepped out.

"So let's see," Andrew said, pulling the slip of paper from his pocket, "D-seven, space forty. Well, most of these don't look like they go to forty spaces. Some of them over there might, though."

They walked over to the longer piers, reading the signs at the start of each one. "C-six, C-seven, C-eight," Andrew said aloud as he passed the signs. Eventually, he walked by a post, and said, "Ah, here it is; D-seven."

When Andrew and Misty looked down the pier, they both said "Wow" in unison. The pier was the longest in the marina, stretching rather far out into the bay, and split into two paths near the end. At the start of the pier sat small speedboats. They were nicely adorned, and kept in fine condition. As the pier extended, larger boats were docked.

They began to walk down the long pier, looking at the quality of the boats they were passing. "Some of these people must have some decent money," Andrew said, passing by fine house-boats.

They continued walking down the pier, and read the dock numbers at the split. "We're only at twenty-eight!" Andrew said. He looked down the length of each path, and saw only a few spaces each way. Along the edges of each space were yellow lines, marking the span of the space. As Andrew and Misty walked down the shorter length of the split, they noticed that there was a yellow line to the edge of the pier that faced the open bay.

That branch of the pier only went to space 32, so they walked to the other branch. As they looked at the high-class house-boats to their right, they counted off the numbers.

"Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine… What the?" Andrew said.

"This pier only goes to thirty-nine?"

Andrew turned around, and saw a sign at the other side of the pier. "No it doesn't," he said, "here's forty."

Andrew looked at the yellow line that marked the length of space 40, and noticed that it continued far down the pier. Andrew gaped at the other end of the split pier as he realized that the line that marked space 40 continued _all_ the way to the other end.

"Space forty is _huge_!" Andrew shouted.

Misty pointed at a distant white yacht that was approaching the pier. "That yacht is huge as well, and I think it's headed this way."


	8. Getting To Know an Elite

**Chapter 8: Getting To Know an Elite**

The large white Yacht moved slowly out in the bay. "So much for thinking she didn't have a high-class flair," Andrew said.

"I told you she could be high-class sometimes," Misty said.

Andrew sat down, and said, "I suppose. But I can't stand on this pier well at all. I don't have sea-legs."

Misty laughed as she stood calmly on the pier, watching the large white yacht approach. After a few minutes, the yacht docked, and Lorelei stepped off at the split in the pier. Andrew stood, and walked with Misty towards Lorelei. Lorelei looked over towards Andrew and waved. "Glad to see you could make it all right, Andrew," Lorelei said. "And I assume this young lady here is your girlfriend?"

"That would be right!" Misty exclaimed. She held out her hand and said, "I'm Misty, a big fan of yours!"

Lorelei shook Misty's hand, saying, "It's always nice to meet a fan." She let go of Misty's hand, paused a moment in thought, and said, "I've got a friend whose youngest daughter's name is Misty, and she looks _a lot_ like you. You wouldn't happen to know Rose Waterflower, would you?"

"Yes!" Misty exclaimed, "She's my mom!"

"That's actually why we came to Vermilion in the first place," Andrew said. "We were going to meet Rose down here later today."

"I'm going to be bringing her here on my yacht. Yesterday, she was going to go and buy a ferry ticket, but I told her that I'd bring her over on my yacht instead."

Andrew looked over at the yacht, and said, "So this _is_ your yacht! I never would have guessed that you would have something so high-class and expensive."

"It's only because I like to be out at sea often. My home on Mandarin Island isn't quite as lavish as you would think."

"That's okay. I've made quite a chunk of change from my winnings as well, and I don't go for anything very high-class."

Lorelei put her hand up to her chin in thought. "Hmm, I wonder where we should go for lunch. There's a restaurant on Mandarin Island that serves some great food at a great price, but it would take almost an hour to get there with my yacht."

"Oh, that's okay," Andrew said. He looked over at Misty as he said, "I don't mind. Do you, Misty?"

"Not at all!" Misty said excitedly, "I'd love to go to Mandarin Island!"

"Very well then," Lorelei said, "We'll go to Mandarin Island."

They boarded the yacht, and Lorelei walked over to a panel with a speaker and a button on it. She pressed the button, and said, "Mavis, take us to Mandarin Island if you would, please."

A voice on the other end said, "Sure thing, Lorelei. Given the weather conditions and tides, I'd estimate that it'll take us about forty-five to fifty minutes to get there."

"All right, Mavis. Let's set sail."

As the yacht began to move away from the pier, Andrew started to lose his balance. Lorelei noticed this, and said, "What's the matter, Andrew?"

"I'm just not used to traveling on water, is all," Andrew said. Misty and Lorelei seemed to have no problem standing on the bobbing ship.

"If you can't stand well," Lorelei said, "Then by all means, please have a seat."

Andrew looked across the deck, and noticed a white, round table, with four white chairs sitting around it. He walked over to it as best he could, and took a seat. Misty walked over, and sat next to him.

"Would you two like something to drink?" Lorelei asked, "I have a wonderful fruit drink that I think you might enjoy."

"I'll have some, please!" Misty said enthusiastically.

"I haven't had anything fruity in a while, so sure, why not?" Andrew said.

"Alright. I'll be back in a minute," Lorelei said, walking into the main cabin.

"So, I take it you're excited, eh, Misty?" Andrew said calmly.

"Well, you know how much I adore Lorelei!" Misty exclaimed, "And it's so wonderful that she's invited us on her yacht, even!"

"Well, this is a rather nice vessel, I must admit. But even still; you should try to calm down, since you're getting _very_ hyper over all of this."

Andrew reached over and held Misty's hand. He looked into her eyes and smiled. A short time later, Lorelei emerged from the cabin, carrying a tray with three large, bulbous glasses on it. The glasses were filled with a bright pink liquid that was slightly translucent. They had straws in them, and were decorated each with a lemon and a pink flower. Lorelei placed the tray in the center of the table.

Andrew picked up one of the glasses, and sipped the drink. He raised his eyebrows, and said, "This is a very interesting drink. A pleasant blend of fruits."

Misty took a sip of her drink, and nodded, saying, "Yeah, it's very tasty. What's in it?"

Andrew squeezed the lemon on his glass, and mixed its juice in with the rest of the drink, as Lorelei said, "Well, it's a blend of solid strawberry and watermelon, with fresh orange and lime juice, and some crushed ice. I've been experimenting with different amounts, to get just the right balance of texture, color, and flavor."

"And that lemon's juice can be used to give it a little bit more kick as well," Andrew said, stirring his drink with the straw.

"Well, I've met others who have made this particular drink before, and they put things like vodkain it. I didn't like it at all. Or any alcoholic drink, for that matter. That's why I don't make alcoholic drinks," Lorelei said, sipping calmly from her own drink.

"Bleh," Andrew said, "I don't like alcohol either. I don't really see why some people are so crazy over it."

"Yeah, alcohol is really disgusting," Misty said.

Andrew held his drink in his left hand, and raised his right high into the air. "The general consensus amongst us here," he said jokingly, "Is that alcohol tastes bad. That is all."

Lorelei smirked, and Misty laughed a little. "Sorry," Andrew said, smirking, "That's just how my strange sense of humor is."

"That's okay," Lorelei said, "Your father was very much the same way."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "You knew my father?"

"Of course," Lorelei said, "I get to know a lot of trainers. Your father, however, showed a lot of promise. It's a shame that Lance was just too strong for him, really. He had a lot of potential."

"I actually met up with my father yesterday. He had been traveling through Cerulean, and didn't know that my mother had moved up there. He was really surprised to see me. He told me that he was proud of how strong I had become, and said that all the dedication he put into training me had paid off."

"Yeah, not much was heard about him once he had you. Then he traveled off, and _nobody_ heard from him. It's almost as if he had died, really. Then you came along, with the news of that gray Nidoran. You should have seen how much news that made!"

"Apparently he's still popular. It seems as though that's how many people remember me. Kind of sad, really; but hey, what can you do, you know?"

"I'm afraid I know what you mean. When I was young and training, everybody just knew me as 'that strong girl with the purple Lapras.' Many didn't start remembering my name until I became an Elite. But hey, at least they know you by name already."

"How did you become an Elite, anyway?" Misty asked.

"That's a good question. I don't know why they decided to elect me as one of the Elites. Out of fifty candidates, I was rated thirty-eighth most likely to be picked. I guess good luck decided to come my way then."

"Why are you the most public of the Elites?" Misty asked.

"Mainly because I like to interact with people. Lance jokes all the time that I'm the 'promoter' of the Elite Four. While I guess he's right, in a sense, having public gatherings is just something I like to do."

"Speaking of public gatherings," Andrew interjected, "Would you happen to know of anywhere I could have a press conference held? I want to hold one, so that reporters and whatnot can ask me questions in a more formal environment. Also, because it gives me an excuse to have them not bother me any other time."

"Hmm," Lorelei uttered in thought. "I usually have my press conferences held at the Richburg hotel, in Viridian.

"How much in advance do you have to reserve the conference room for?"

"About a week, really. They're very lenient with scheduling. The problem is, they're also very choosy about who they'll let have the room. If two parties have a conflicting date, they'll choose whoever will draw a larger crowd, forcing the other to reschedule. Though I doubt you'd have to be pushed back, since you're what I've heard reporters refer to as 'hot news.'"

"I see. Alright, I'll look into it, then."

"Yeah, I heard mention on the news that you'd be having a press conference on the eighth. I'm surprised that nobody's called _you_ to vie for the location. I know I've had times where multiple places have called me."

"I take it they're money hungry? They want whoever can draw the largest crowd, because the largest crowd means the most business. And as you know, more business equals more money."

"Yeah, that's about right. What kinds of questions do you think they'll ask you?"

"They'll probably ask a million and two questions about my battle strategies, my Pokémon, and my plans. I've even heard some crazy questions being asked by reporters as well. The most recent one was as I was about to leave the Bay Competition. As Misty hopped in the car, I turned around and said something to them about going to formulate new strategies and such. You know, typical 'I-don't-want-to-talk-but-I-don't-want-to-be-rude' stuff. Anyway, after I said that, they started asking more questions, of course. The one that sticks in my mind the most was from what I can only assume was a tabloid reporter."

Andrew pinched his nose to imitate the voice of the reporter, and said, "Mister Masako! Rumors have been going around that you and Miss Waterflower have been engaged in a secret relationship for some time. Is this true?" He let go of his nose and continued, "Or, something to that degree. In a way, that question was sort of ironic."

"Ironic? In what way?" Lorelei asked, genuinely interested.

"Well, because at that time, we hadn't told each other about how we felt. We've been extremely close friends for years, but technically started declaring ourselves 'boyfriend and girlfriend' just a few days ago."

Lorelei chuckled, and said, "That reminds me of my husband. We'd known each other for years, and had been dating as 'just friends' for a little over a year. Then he confessed to me how much he loved me, and we were married a month later. And to think that was almost thirty years ago already. And to this day, I still feel for him as I felt those many years ago." By this time, Lorelei seemed to have started staring at nothing at all. She looked directly into Andrew and Misty's eyes, and said sincerely, "I truly hope that you have a long and happy relationship."

"Thanks," Andrew and Misty said in unison.

Suddenly, the yacht began to accelerate. Lorelei looked towards Vermilion, and said, "We've left the slow zone. Now we can go at top speed."

"How fast can this yacht go?" Asked Misty.

"Well, despite its size, it can go about forty-five knots."

"Now, how fast is that in miles per hour?" Andrew asked, "I'm no good with sea terminology."

"It's about fifty-two miles per hour," Misty said to Andrew.

"Wow, not bad," Andrew said, raising an eyebrow.

"We'd better head inside," Lorelei said, "It'll be quite windy out here before you know it."

They stood from the table, and walked into the main cabin. It was well-decorated, and lit with a warm yellow glow. "Oh!" Misty said as she noticed something across the room. She walked over to it, and Andrew followed.

"It's so beautiful!" Misty exclaimed.

"Wow, that _is_ very pretty, indeed!" Andrew said in agreement.

They had been looking at a rather sizeable statue of a Starmie, that was crafted from rich gemstones.

As he examined it, Andrew said, "It looks like it's made from Amethyst, with a ruby at the center, and—"

"Yellow gold," Lorelei finished. "Yes, this little Starmie is really the first 'fancy' thing that I'd ever bought. I looked at it, and said to myself that I had to have it. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money to buy it, since it had an extremely high price tag. I got a lucky break when I won two high-yield competitions in a row. I used the earnings from one to buy this wonderful little piece. It was also the first time I'd ever been to an auction, as well."

Andrew was stunned. "You mean to say that just _this_ cost you the _entire_ earnings from a competition?"

"Yes, but I was also going against many others who had a lot of money to throw around. I just had to stick with bidding higher and higher, until I won the bid. This was many, many years ago, mind you, and the value of this fine piece of work has probably increased by a significant amount."

"I still can't believe that you spent so much money on it. While, yes, it is extremely beautiful and very worthy of attention, I think the price tag on it is still quite extreme."

"Oh, come now, Andrew! I'm sure you've won _plenty_ of money from competitions! You're undefeated!"

"Well, the thing is, I don't really live richly. I also don't compete in _every _competition. I want to give others at least _some_ chance to see the light of victory. And those competitions I _do_ compete in, I almost always donate all of my winnings. At the Bay competition, Misty and I had decided to donate our combined hundred thousand dollars to the Centers for the Care and Treatment of Lost and Abandoned Pokémon."

"What about the three hundred thousand dollar reward from the Indigo League Competition?"

"I donated half of it to help fund that global Pokémon Center renovation project. I've been living off the other half since."

"Just imagine if you defeated us Elites, then. There are _several millions_ to be won if you can actually defeat Lance. It's a very little-known fact."

"What?! I never saw anything about _any_ prize money in the Elite Four Competition pamphlet."

"Like I said, it's a little-known fact. We don't mention any winnings at all, because we don't want people trying to challenge the Elite Four just for all the money. But who knows, if you do win that money, you could buy a yacht like mine."

"Honestly," Andrew said, "I don't think I'd buy much at all with the money. I was raised by wealthy parents, but was brought up modestly. Huge mansions and caviar do _not_ interest me."

By this time, they had all taken a seat on the fine cushioned sofas that surrounded a low table. Andrew continued talking.

"While technically, I _do _have two vehicles, both of which would be considered quite expensive, I bought them when they were both very low quality. The truck I have is a _very_ rare model—only 15 of them were ever made. However, it was in very poor condition when I bought it. The engine had to be replaced, and much of the body had to be restored or replaced. The original engine was a modification off of a similar model, which meant that the replacement engine had to be modified as well. I put a _lot_ of effort into fixing up that truck, since most of the work that was done to it, _I_ did myself. The end result was _far _more satisfying, believe me."

Lorelei nodded, and said, "I know what you mean. Although I didn't do much in the way of actually constructing this yacht, the design for it was actually mine. Since I was young, I had dreamt of a fine vessel that I could travel the oceans with. However, my original design for the yacht failed miserably in virtual simulations. For years, I worked my design over and over, having it virtually tested and fail countless times. Over time, I learned more and more about what worked and what didn't, and modified my original design so that it would sail. Little did I know that it was only a slight modification that allowed me to have a perfectly sailing ship, but also one that could safely reach a high speed. This yacht is more of my home than anything else, and it is a veritable dream home, indeed."

Misty looked around again at her surroundings. "Hearing that, it makes me look at this boat in a different way."

"What do you mean, Misty?" Lorelei asked.

"Now that I know this yacht is completely unique, it makes it feel less like some expensive toy. This is the direct end result of something you'd dreamt about since you were young. I feel honored to be aboard this fine vessel."

"Why, thank you, Misty," Lorelei said.

"Lorelei, we'll be docking at Mandarin Island in five minutes," Mavis' voice came through a communication unit somewhere in the cabin.

"Wow," Andrew said, "That was fast!"

"Well, you know what they say about time," Lorelei said, standing up. She walked towards the front of the ship, as Andrew and Misty followed.

They walked out of a door near the front of the ship. They watched from the nose of the ship as they approached Mandarin Island.

As Misty watched the island approach, she said to Lorelei, "Lorelei, could you please _not_ tell my mother that I'm Andrew's girlfriend?"

"Why's that, Misty?"

"Because, I want to tell her myself."

"Sure thing, Misty."

"Thanks."

Within minutes, they were docked at Mandarin Island. As they stepped off the ship, Lorelei saw a tall woman with long, flowing orange hair that was very shiny. She had blue eyes, and wore dark crimson lipstick. Andrew looked at the woman, and said, "Oh my,"

Misty looked as well, and gasped as she began to say, "It's—"

Lorelei took a few steps forward, and shouted, "Hi Rose!"

Rose looked over as Lorelei waved to get her attention. She gasped as she noticed who had been accompanying Lorelei. She walked over to Lorelei, and got a better look at who she was with.

"Misty!" Rose said loudly, quickly walking up and giving her daughter a large hug. "Oh how wonderful it is to see you again!"

Misty returned her mother's embrace, and said, "It's good to see you again, too, mom. I've missed you."

As Rose let go of her hold on Misty, Andrew said, "It's very nice to see you again, Rose."

"It's nice seeing _you _again too, Andrew!" Rose said happily. "So, why are you two here? I told your sisters that I wouldn't be in Vermilion until five o'clock tonight."

"Oh, they're with me," Lorelei said. "I invited them to join me for lunch."

Misty supplemented Lorelei's explanation, saying, "When we met her on the dock, she asked us if we'd like to come to eat at a restaurant here, and we both agreed."

"So," Rose asked, "How've things been lately?"

Misty recalled what she wanted to tell her mother. "Hey mom," she said. "I've got _really_ big news!"

"Oh? What is it, honey?"

"Well, Daisy probably would have told you over the phone, but she forgot to mention it. I'm really glad she did too, because I wanted to tell you this myself."

"Really?" Rose asked, shifting slightly closer to Misty, "What is it? You've got me dying to know, now!"

"I've got a boyfriend now!" Misty rhapsodized.

"That's wonderful! Who's the man so lucky to have the heart of my beautiful daughter?"

"Really, mom, _I_ should be the lucky one."

"Why's that, Misty?"

"Because," Misty said with glee. She held her arms out towards Andrew, and said, "Andrew's my boyfriend!"

Rose gasped. "Is that true?"

"Yep," Andrew said while nodding. "And I love your daughter every bit as much as she loves me."

"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Rose. "I'm so proud of you, Misty!"

"Proud? Why proud?" Misty asked.

"Because, Misty; you have a man that loves you just as much as you love him. You've got someone that will treat you with the respect you deserve. That's by far better than what your sisters could have ever hoped for with their past boyfriends."

She turned towards Andrew, and continued, "You know, Daisy, Violet, and Lily have all told me time and again how much you seemed to care for Misty. They told me about how many times you've gone out of your way—and your nature—to defend Misty and make her happy. They knew for years that you two were going to wind up together eventually."

"Oh really?" Andrew asked. "They seemed to be in quite a lot of disbelief when Misty told them, then. They acted a bit bitter about it, really."

"Oh, you know they're just getting on you guys' nerves because they're jealous. The three of them have obsessed quite a bit about you."

"Well, they may have wanted me, but I don't think I could ever really feel for them like I do Misty. Their personalities just don't fit well with mine. But Misty is different. She's kind, gentle, and loving. But she's also got a lot of knowledge, and a strong spirit. I'm not attracted to her because of status, or money, or any of that. And I don't care what _anybody_ says; I think she's one of the most beautiful ladies I've ever seen. It's a special kind of beauty, too; she's not only beautiful on the outside, she's got an inner beauty that surpasses _anything_ I could even so much as _dream_ about."

Rose was so overcome with joy that she hugged Andrew tightly. "Thank you," she said, "Thank you for being the man that I've always wanted _any_ daughter of mine to have."

"Well, you're welcome," Andrew said, "But in all honesty, I don't think I'm that special. I just show the respect towards Misty that I think _any_ man who truly loves a woman should show."

"Well, you _know_ that you've got my automatic approval," Rose said. "Now when can I expect to be calling you my son-in-law?"

Andrew raised his hands defensively. "Whoa now, Rose! Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions here?"

Lorelei leaned over to Rose, and whispered in her ear, "I'd give it a month and a half, tops."

"I heard that!" Andrew said in obvious mock-anger.

"Come now, Andrew," Lorelei said, "Just as you told me when we were on our way here; you both were very close for a very long time."

"That sounds a bit like how you were with your husband," Rose said to Lorelei.

"Yes, I was telling them about that on the yacht."

Andrew noticed a clock post in the distance. "Oh, look," he said, "Its noon already."

Lorelei turned and looked at the clock as well. "So it is," she said. "We might as well head up to the diner now."

"You mean Ritchell's place?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. I was going to bring them there for lunch."

"Do you mind if I come with you? I didn't have breakfast this morning, and I've got nothing better to do right now."

"Sure thing, I don't mind."

Lorelei turned around, and saw a man standing on the top level of her yacht. He was dressed in a white ship captain's suit, with a matching hat. His hair was light brown.

"Mavis," Lorelei shouted up to him.

"Yes, Lorelei?" Mavis responded.

"My guests and I will be at the Ritchellito Diner. You can sit back and relax for a while."

Mavis stood straight and saluted. "Sure thing, Lorelei. I'll contact you if anything should happen."

"All right. Take care for now!"

Lorelei looked back at Andrew, Misty, and Rose, and said, "The diner's up this way; it's not a very long walk."

They walked up a steep part of the hilly island, until they reached a building with a giant glass dome on the top of it. "Here it is," Lorelei said to Andrew and Misty, "The Ritchellito Diner."

Andrew looked at the glass dome, and said, "_This_ is a diner?"

"Yep," Rose said, "A friend of ours, Victor Ritchell, designed it."

"I actually saw him up at the Glistening Bay a few days ago," Lorelei said to Rose.

"What was he doing up there?"

"He told me that he'd been hired to direct the construction of a new restaurant he designed. He was up there overseeing its construction."

Andrew laughed, and asked sarcastically, "What, is it going to be an _underwater _restaurant or something?"

Lorelei turned and gave Andrew a confused and shocked look. "That's _exactly_ what it is. Victor told me that it was to be a secret project until it was finished. How did you know about it?"

"What?!" Andrew and Misty said in unison. Andrew continued, "You mean that's actually what it is?"

"Yes."

Andrew and Misty gave a confused and mystified look to one another. "That's creepy," Misty said.

"What's creepy?" Rose asked.

"Andrew and I had the same exact dream last night. In it, we were dancing in this fancy restaurant, and the restaurant was a glass dome that was underwater!" Misty said.

"You're right, that _is_ creepy," Rose said.

"Creepiness aside," Lorelei said, "Let's go and get something to eat."


	9. Dinner and a Trip Home

**Chapter 9: Dinner and a Trip Home**

They entered the lower structure of the diner, and were greeted by a spirited woman with curly blond hair. "Hi Lorelei! Hi Rose!" she exclaimed.

"Table for four please, Lindsay."

"Oh, do we have guests today?" Lindsay said.

She looked around at Andrew and Misty, who were standing behind Lorelei. "Are you Andrew Masako?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes, I am." Andrew said.

Lorelei stepped to the side, and put her arm out towards Lindsay, saying, "Andrew, this is Lindsay Ritchell, co-owner and head waitress of the restaurant."

Andrew put his hand forward, and said, "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Ritchell."

As she shook Andrew's hand, Lindsay replied, "The pleasure's all mine, surely!" She then looked over to Misty, and asked cheerfully, "and who might you be?"

Rose spoke up, and said, "This is my youngest daughter, Misty."

"Oh, she looks _just_ like you, Rose!" Lindsay said. She held out her hand towards Misty and said, "It's so nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too," Misty said, shaking Lindsay's hand.

"So," Lorelei said, "About that table."

"Sure thing," Lindsay said. She picked up four menus from a shelf, and said, "Right this way."

Lindsay led Lorelei, Rose, Misty, and Andrew up a curved staircase, to a higher floor that offered a view out of the glass dome. Across the circular floor were several round tables, with four chairs at each. The floor stopped short of the edge of the glass dome, and had a lower floor around it. On the lower floor were rectangular tables with anchored cushion bench seats. The walls were lined with windows that offered a view of the ground-level plants and trees.

Misty looked out at the ocean, and noticed a small triangle of land along the horizon. "What's that island?" she said, pointing.

Rose looked in the direction that Misty was pointing, and answered, "That's Trovita Island. That's the very top of its mountain."

Lindsay led the group to a table, and they all sat down. She distributed the menus to each person, and pulled out a small notepad and pencil. "All right. First off, has anyone decided what they'd like to drink yet?"

Andrew and Misty took a quick look at what drinks were available, as Lorelei said, "I'll just have water, please."

Rose hadn't even looked in her menu yet, and said, "I'll have lemonade."

"And have you two decided on what you want yet?" Lindsay asked Andrew and Misty.

"Hmm," Andrew uttered as he looked over the drinks list. "I think I'll just have the lemon iced tea, please."

Misty folded up her menu, and said, "I'll have lemonade as well, please."

"All right then!" Lindsay said. "I'll be back in just a minute with your drinks."

As Lindsay walked away from the table, Andrew continued to study the menu. "So this restaurant you say Victor designed," Andrew said without looking up from the menu.

"Yes?" Lorelei asked.

"Is it going to be high-class?"

"Oh, very. It's going to be used for a lot of very formal celebrations and balls."

"And it's all going to be underwater?" Misty asked.

"All but the entrance area and kitchens," Lorelei said. "Everything leading underwater will be supported by steel-cored beams and foot-thick glass panels."

"What about all the pressure?"

"It won't be _that_ deep underwater. Though it will be deep enough that you'll be able to see some interesting things."

"I can't wait to see it when it's done!"

"Well, Victor said that if everything continues to go on schedule and according to plan, it would be operational sometime in September, or perhaps even earlier."

As Andrew listened to the discussion between Misty and Lorelei, he thought, "_September? How very interesting this could be._" He continued to look over the lunch menu, until he had made his decision about his meal.

Lindsay came back to the table with the drinks, and placed them on the table. She took out her notepad again, and asked, "Has everybody decided on what they'll be having today?"

Rose said, "Yes, I'll just have a garden salad."

Lorelei said, "And I'll have the tuna salad."

Andrew made a quick glance to the menu to verify his decision, and said, "I'll have the chicken parmesan, with a side of breadsticks, please."

"Okay," Lindsay said, jotting down on the notepad. She then looked towards Misty, and asked, "And you, dear?"

Misty was still looking at the menu, and eventually lowered it, sighed, and said, "I'll have what he's having, but with nothing on the side please."

"Okay! I'll be back soon with your meals!"

Andrew picked the lemon that was placed along the edge of his glass of iced tea, and squeezed the juice into the tea, mixing it with the straw. He took a sip of it, and raised his eyebrows in appreciation.

"So Andrew," Lorelei started, "Are you nervous about challenging the Elite Four?"

"Not really," Andrew replied. "I haven't been nervous about a battle in ages. Mainly because I really _don't_ care if I win or lose."

"You don't care?"

"Well, of course I do battle to win, but I know that losing isn't the end of everything. It's also a good method for going into battle with a clear head. Being nervous about my success would only serve as a serious hindrance to my battling ability."

"I really must agree. You'll see that _none_ of the Elites are even the slightest bit nervous about their battles. To tell the truth though, I _know_ I'm going to lose against you, so it wouldn't really matter if I were nervous or not, now would it?"

Andrew chuckled, and said, "As I like to say, 'don't jump the gun, else you might get shot.' You never know how things will turn out."

"If you say so. But I'm standing firm on my belief that our battle will be _very_ short."

Andrew shrugged, and Rose asked, "So Andrew, how have you been lately?"

"Oh, I've been just fine. Misty and I won the two-on-two competition that was held at Glistening Bay a couple of days ago."

Rose turned to Lorelei, and asked, "Isn't that the competition that you had your last demonstration at?"

"Yes," Lorelei replied, "it was. Andrew was the last up on my demo list. His Nidoking took out my Cloyster in two hits. It didn't even seem to be phased by Cloyster's attacks, either."

"He wasn't," Andrew interjected. "You'd know if an attack affected my Nidoking. That reminds me, though. Why didn't you use your Lapras against me?"

"Because I didn't have her with me at the time. She was here with Rose while I was at the bay."

"That's good enough reason, I suppose."

"I watched your battles though, Andrew. You and Misty seemed to be really in sync with one another; your Pokémon, even more so."

"It's all in the training and strategy. But if you'll excuse me, I've got to use the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute."

Andrew stood from the table, and walked off the upper level, towards the bathroom. Misty watched Andrew walk down the stairs, and sighed.

"What's wrong, honey?" Rose asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Misty replied, "It's just that I can't get over how much I love him. He treats me as an equal, and a lot of the time, more. He's strong, smart, kind, and caring. He's got a soft and gentle touch, and he feels so warm when he holds me. And he's so handsome, too!"

"Well, I'm not going to disagree with you on that last part, but I wouldn't know about the rest."

"Oh, come on now, mom! You know how kind he is!"

"I guess you're right. He's been one of the kindest, sweetest boys I've ever seen; ever since he was just a kid. You know, now that I think about it, he's always taken a liking to you, ever since you two first met. Seeing you two together when you were little almost seemed a bit like… two pieces of a really complicated jigsaw puzzle fitting together or something. Now, it seems as though those two puzzle pieces were meant to go with one another."

"I suppose you could put it like that, Rose," Lorelei said. "From what I've seen, they do have a lot of the right chemistry between them."

Andrew was walking up the stairs to the upper level of the diner. He walked back to the table, and sat down, saying, "So, what'd I miss?"

"We were just talking about you and Misty," Rose said.

"What particular aspect?"

"Well, my mom compared us to two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that fit together," Misty said.

Andrew chuckled and said, "Good analogy. Yes, amongst the chaotic puzzle that is life, I've found my perfect matching piece."

As Andrew finished his sentence, he placed his right hand over Misty's hands, which were brought together on the top of the table. He looked over to her and smiled. Just then, Andrew noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see Lindsay, carrying a large tray with plates of food on it.

Lindsay reached the table, and said, "Okay, your orders are ready!" She began placing the meals in front of who ordered them, saying as she did, "Okay. We've got a garden salad for Mrs. Waterflower, a tuna salad for Mrs. Mutawa, chicken parmesan with breadsticks for mister Masako, and another chicken parmesan for young Miss Waterflower."

Lindsay also noticed that Andrew's tea was beginning to run low, and asked, "Would you like a refill of the tea, mister Masako?"

Andrew glanced over to his glass, and noticed it was getting empty. "Yes, please," he said, "and could I get another slice of lemon with that, too?"

"No problem. I'll be back in just a minute," Lindsay said, taking the glass and walking away from the table.

Everyone began eating. Andrew mixed the pasta around with the sauce, placing the chicken piece slightly off to the side. Then he moved the breadsticks between himself and Misty. He cut off a bit of the chicken, and tried it. "Not bad," he said, reaching for the salt, "but it could use a _little_ bit of salt." He salted the chicken and tried another piece of it. "Ah, much better," he said.

Misty reached over to the basket with breadsticks in it, and grabbed one. She tried it, and said, "These breadsticks are pretty good, too."

Andrew looked over to Misty, who was taking another bite of her breadstick, and said, "Let's see." He grabbed a breadstick of his own, and took a bite off of it, and nodded in agreement. "You're right, these are pretty good. It must be whatever they've put on the top of them.

Rose and Lorelei were mixing around their salads. Lorelei finished mixing her salad, and said, "This place is a favorite with many of the local islands, mainly because of its great food and excellent and speedy service."

"Well, we've been judged best restaurant in the Orange Islands for 6 years running," Lindsay said. Nobody noticed that she had returned with Andrew's refill of tea. She placed the glass down where it had been sitting previously, saying, "Here's your refill of tea, mister Masako."

"Thank you," Andrew said.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all!" Lindsay said.

She walked off, and back down the stairs. Andrew squeezed the new lemon slice into the glass, and mixed it in with the tea.

They all ate their meals in relative silence. They took their time to savor their food, especially Andrew and Misty, who were enjoying their meal greatly. Andrew was the first to finish his meal. After swallowing the last bite he said, "That was a very good meal!"

Misty looked over towards Andrew as she readied another forkful of pasta to eat. Lorelei said between bites of her salad, "You're a really fast eater, you know that?"

"Oh, he's fast with everything he does," Misty chimed in.

"I may be fast, but I do have patience," Andrew said. "Being patient has helped me too many times to count."

"Are you this fast with your training?" Lorelei asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Then why does it take so long for your Pokémon to evolve?"

"Because I delay their evolution. It helps them develop attacks faster, and makes them stronger in the long run. Surely you knew this, Lorelei?"

"Yes, I just wanted to see why it took so long, is all. I don't delay evolution, but Lance and Agatha do. They're the two strongest of the Elites, after all."

"Well, I see that I'm inadvertently using techniques that the 'top dogs' use. I only did it because I read one of Professor Oak's published reports on the subject. I read many of his reports, actually."

"Professor Oak's words _do_ carry a lot of weight in the Pokémon science community, after all," Rose said.

"Do you read any other science reports?" Lorelei asked.

"Many. I've read plenty of energy and quantum physics reports by Professor Bernard Schnellron. I've also read recent reports on advanced propulsion mechanisms and energy sources from Professor Ivan Otokah. Did you know that technology is being developed that could provide us with the ability to travel to our closest planets in a matter of _hours_?"

"Hours? Wouldn't that require us to go near the speed of light?"

"Technically, yes, but instead of applying energy to the spacecraft, we would instead be using inverse gravity to push ourselves away from one area, or pull towards another. No energy is actually being applied to the craft. It's really quite fascinating."

"All this science talk is going right over my head," Rose said.

"Yeah, same with me," Lorelei added, "You don't need to explain anymore. You lost me at "inverse gravity"."

By this time, Misty and Rose had finished their meals, and Lorelei was about ready to finish hers. Andrew, Misty, and Rose talked while Lorelei finished the last few bites of her salad. They continued talking until Lindsay returned to the table.

"Would anyone like to order some dessert?" she asked.

Everyone at the table shook their heads, satisfied with their meals. "Okay, then," she said, writing on a small slip of paper. She placed it on the table, and said, "Thank you for dining at Ritchellito's!"

As Lindsay walked away, Andrew looked at the paper. It was a bill for the meal. "You weren't kidding, Lorelei," Andrew said, holding the bill, "It is relatively inexpensive here."

The bill for the four meals and side of breadsticks came out to be only 25 dollars. Even though money was of little issue to any of them, they decided to split the bill up fairly: each person paid for what they ordered. Andrew, however, decided to cover Misty's portion of the bill in addition to his own.

They all left the diner and went back to Lorelei's yacht. Mavis was waiting on the deck of the ship for them.

"Ah, I figured you'd be about done by now, Lorelei," he said with a smirk.

"Yes, yes," Lorelei replied, stifling a chuckle. "Anyway, let's head back to Vermilion now. Don't worry about going full speed either; we don't have to be there for another three and a half hours."

"Will do."

Mavis headed off towards the helm of the ship, while Lorelei led Andrew, Rose, and Misty down into the cabin. They sat around and continued to chat for the length of the slow journey back to Vermilion.

Hours later, Lorelei's yacht was beginning its final docking back in Serenity Marina. Rose had called ahead to notify Daisy, Violet, and Lily of her arrival time and location. Lorelei, Misty, Rose, and Andrew stood on the side of the yacht as the docking completed. A small staircase folded out from the side of the vessel to the dock automatically. Rose quickly walked down the stairs and met up with her other three daughters, exchanging hugs and greetings.

"Well," Lorelei said to Andrew, "I suppose this ends our time together for now."

"Indeed it does," Andrew replied. "I take it the next time I'll be seeing you is at the competition?"

"Yes. However, I still stand by my saying that our battle will be very short."

"Don't bank on that, Lorelei. You never know what could happen."

"Well, I've battled enough prospective trainers to know who's got what it takes and who doesn't, and I can _clearly_ tell that you've got _much_ more than it takes to defeat us all."

Andrew gave a small laugh, and said, "Well, I'll try to not let that inflate my ego before the competition."

Lorelei chuckled slightly as Misty and Andrew started walking off of the ship. They turned just before the staircase, saying "goodbye" in unison. Lorelei returned their goodbye as they stepped onto the dock. She also added, "I'll see you in three weeks' time!" and walked back into the cabin.

"So, are you all finished sharing greetings yet?" Misty asked as she walked up to her mother and sisters.

"Oh, of course, dear," Rose said.

"Though, like, we want her to ride with us on the trip home, if that's okay," Daisy said.

"No problem at all," Andrew started, "we've had more than enough time to catch up on everything on Lorelei's yacht."

"Well, perhaps we should get going," Rose said. "There's not much else to do around here right now."

"You've, like, got a point there, mom," Violet said.

"Let's go!" Daisy said, pointing towards the parking lot where her car was parked.

"Well, you head on out," Andrew said, "I'm going to get a drink for the trip back first."

Andrew and Misty walked around until they found a small convenience store, where Andrew bought a bottle of water. As Andrew was getting ready to hand his money to the cashier, Misty noticed one of the tabloids sitting on a shelf.

"Hey, Andrew, look at this," she said, pointing to the tabloid.

"Well I'll be," Andrew said, picking up the tabloid. He took it and placed it on the counter, saying, "Ring this up too, if you would please."

The cashier looked down at the tabloid, and said, "It's not every day that someone buys a tabloid about themselves."

Andrew laughed while handing the cashier the money, and replied, "Well, I'm just very curious, is all."

Andrew and Misty walked out of the store, Andrew looking at the tabloid.

"You know," he started, "I know where this picture was taken, but I certainly do _not_ remember you holding my hand at that time. Could it possibly have been a manipulated photo?"

Misty looked a little closer at the picture on the front of the tabloid, and said, "Actually, no, it wasn't manipulated at all; I was actually holding your hand at the time."

Andrew continued to look at the picture, his eyebrow raised. "I wonder how it was that I didn't notice."

Andrew flipped through the pages of the tabloid with his thumb, looking at each consecutive image showing he and Misty with their hands interlocked. They weakly supported the headline on the front of the tabloid that asserted that he and Misty had been romantically involved for months.

"I still don't understand how there could have been that many incidents where I completely failed to notice that you'd been grasping my hand the whole time," Andrew said.

"Well, are you aware that I'm holding your hand right now?"

Andrew looked down at his right hand, and indeed it was clasped with Misty's.

"Oh, you are. I guess I'm just not observant about things like that. Perhaps my subconscious told me to leave it be, because it was something I liked."

"Maybe. I'm sure that's why that reporter asked us that question at the competition."

"You know, that's probably it!"

By that time, they had reached Andrew's car. As they drove away from Vermilion, Andrew said, "You know, I'll bet that the same reporter that asked us the question was the same guy who took those pictures!"

"Oh, now you just sound paranoid, dear."

Andrew raised his eyebrow and smiled. "You know," he said, glancing over towards Misty, "I really like the way the word 'dear' rolls off your tongue ever so effortlessly."

"Oh, did I really say 'dear'?"

"That's okay, hun. I quite like it."

"Hun?" Misty asked in a sly, sarcastic tone."

"'Hun' indeed," Andrew proclaimed.

They were at a rather long red light, so Andrew leaned over to give Misty a quick kiss before the light changed. Some time later, they were back in Cerulean City.

"Would you like me to drop you off at your place?" Andrew asked.

"Why bother?"

"I don't know. Perhaps you might have wanted to talk with your mother some more or something."

"Oh, it's okay. Besides, I've run out of things to talk about while we were on the yacht. I might as well give my sisters some time to catch up on all the latest happenings as well."

"Very well, then."

They continued towards Andrew's house, arriving at about 6:30 in the evening. As they entered the house, Rebecca looked over to them and said, "Hello you two, I was wondering when you were going to get back."

Andrew looked over towards Rebecca, and was about to say something. However, he noticed that she had a guest with her: Alexander.

"Oh, hello dad," Andrew exclaimed. "I didn't figure you would have come up here so soon!"

"Yeah, well," Alexander replied, "I really couldn't wait to see Becky again. Once I realized that she moved away from Fuchsia, I started to feel extremely lonely."

"Speaking of Fuchsia," Rebecca said anxiously, "Alex and I have decided that we're going to move back there together!"

"What?" Andrew asked, his mouth agape.

"Well, when Alex came over, I was of course surprised to see him, but as we started talking, he expressed his desire to end his traveling, and return home."

"Okay," Andrew said, he and Misty sitting down on the sofa opposite Rebecca and Alexander, "But what does that have to do with moving back to Fuchsia?"

"Well, hold on honey, I'm getting to that. When we started talking about him coming home, I suggested that we move away from here. My main reasoning was that I felt that it was time for you to start living your life without me around."

"Well, I can understand why you would think this way."

"Besides, it's not like you'll be here alone," Rebecca added, giving a very obvious wink in Misty's direction.

Andrew nodded in agreement, saying, "That is true. She practically lives here over half the time anyway, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind it too much." He looked over at Misty, smiled, and asked rhetorically, "Right, dear?"

Misty smiled eagerly, and exclaimed, "I'd be more than happy to! Besides, if my mom decides to move back home, at least then she'll have a room to herself. I had to share a room with Lily before my mom moved away, and I didn't like it one bit."

"At least you aren't against our decision," Rebecca said.

"We estimate that we'll have all the paperwork transferred over to you within the week. After that, it's a matter of moving all of Becky's stuff down there," Alexander said.

"Wait, what?" Andrew questioned. "Don't you have to pick out a house first?"

"To tell the truth, I was preparing to move away on my own anyway," Rebecca said. "So I had already had some choice houses just north of Fuchsia, in the hills, picked out. It was just a matter of taking Alex down there to help make the final decision."

Rebecca held up a set of keys. "See?" she said, "The house has already been paid for, and the deal finalized."

"What about the previous owners?" Misty asked.

"It was a newly-built home," Alexander answered, "We'll be the first ones to move into it."

"You know, that doesn't leave much time for me to prepare and adjust," Andrew said.

"Oh, nonsense," Rebecca said. "If you, as you told Professor Oak, you can be ready to take on the Elite Four in less than a week, you can surely prepare yourself for not having me around in much less than that."

"I suppose, but it's a big change that I, quite frankly, wasn't expecting at all."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. You're a healthy, strong man now, and this will only help you along your path to independence."

Andrew nodded, and a buzzer sounded from the kitchen.

"Well, it looks like the casserole's done," Rebecca said.

"Casserole? Didn't we have a casserole just a few days ago?" Misty asked.

"Yes, but it's a dish that I haven't made in a while, and it's one of Alex's favorites. If you've got a taste for tuna, you might enjoy it immensely."

Rebecca took the casserole out of the oven and placed it on a counter rack to cool.

"Oh darn," Misty said.

"What's that, Misty?" Andrew asked.

"What? Oh, I must have just been thinking aloud. I really have absolutely no idea how to cook anything. Every time I've tried to cook something, it always wound up disastrous."

"Well," Rebecca started, "if you want, I can show you a few things about cooking before I leave that I think will help you greatly."

"I need all the help I can get when it comes to cooking; Thanks."

The casserole had cooled, and everyone was served. As they ate, Andrew and Rebecca were discussing how the house's bills were going to be handled. Once Andrew was finished eating, he went upstairs and bathed, while Rebecca talked with Misty about food preparation.

As Andrew was relaxing in the tub, a knock came upon the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me," Alexander's voice came from the other side of the door.

"What? Um, come in."

Alexander stepped into the bathroom, fully clothed.

"What is it you wanted, dad?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you about Becky's and my decision to move to Fuchsia."

"What about it?"

"Well, just wanted to know if you'll really be okay with being here on your own."

"Of course, dad. If I can travel across the greater Kanto, Jhoto, _and_ Hoenn regions alone, I can surely hold my own in a home. And even then, Misty's going to move in anyway, so I won't even be alone."

"Did somebody mention me?" Misty asked, peeking around the corner of the opened door.

"Oh, well we were just talking about Andrew being on his own here," Alexander said.

"I see. Well, if it isn't too much trouble, would it be all right if I had access to the shower? I want to get cleaned up and head to bed early."

"Er, wait, what?" Alexander asked, as his eyes darted between Andrew in the tub and Misty in the doorway. "But what about Andrew?"

Andrew laughed a little, then sighed, and said, "Just talk to mom about it, she'll tell you."

"Am I sure I want to know?" Alexander asked as he walked out of the bathroom.

Andrew turned towards the wall as Misty showered. Eventually, she entered the tub alongside Andrew.

"So, what do you think about all this, dear?" Andrew asked.

"Really, I'm not sure what to make of it. It'll be great that I'll be able to finally move all of my things from my house, since I wasn't really there much to begin with. But on the other hand, it'll be a much different experience living with just you and nobody else."

Andrew wrapped his arm behind Misty's shoulders, and drew her close to him.

"It'll be alright. All it's going to take is a little getting used to."

"I just wonder if our feelings will get the best of us."

"Don't worry. With all the time we've spent together, we haven't gone at odds with each other even once. What makes you think that living together might change anything?"

"It's probably just me being paranoid."

Andrew rolled Misty over top of him, and hugged her tightly. He said in her ear reassuringly, "There's no reason to be afraid. This is a wonderful turning point that's only going to serve to bring us even closer together than we already are."

Misty smiled in silence as she lied on top of Andrew, his arms still wrapped tightly around her. After some time, Andrew loosened his embrace. However, Misty didn't move; she had fallen asleep in his arms. Andrew couldn't help but smile warmly as he watched Misty sleeping soundly against him. He almost didn't want to wake her, but stroked her shoulder a few times, calling her name gently.

Eventually, Misty started to wake from her slumber. She looked up at Andrew with half-opened eyes and said meekly, "I'm sorry about that, dear. I'm just a bit tired, is all."

Andrew nodded, and said, "Well, let's head to bed then. If we fall asleep here, we'll wake up as prunes."

Misty smiled, and rolled against the side of the tub, facing the wall. She stretched as Andrew stood and stepped from the tub. He quickly dried off and dressed in his evening wear. He quickly opened the door to his bedroom, and folded back the covers of his bed. He darted back to the bathroom door, and waited just outside of it.

As Misty came groggily stepping from the bathroom, Andrew quickly picked her up. She uttered a tired "whoa" as she settled into his arms.

"Just relax; I'll carry you to the bed," Andrew said affectionately.

Misty looked up at him, smiled, and closed her eyes. Andrew walked back into his room, and gently lied her down in his bed, before getting into the bed himself. Misty shifted slightly, and looked at Andrew in front of her.

"I love you, dear," she said.

"And I love you."

Andrew kissed her softly, and said, "goodnight, dear."

Before she was even able to say goodnight back, Misty had already fallen back into a deep sleep. Andrew lied awake and watched her by the glow of moonlight for a short while, admiring her peace, tranquility, and innocence. He pulled close to her, and put his arms around her. She almost instinctively returned his hold, not even waking up, and Andrew had fallen into a sound sleep of his own.


	10. When Two Becomes One

**Chapter 10: When Two Becomes One**

Unity. Andrew woke early, looking over at his clock. It read **4:47**, significantly earlier than Andrew usually awakened. "_I'll just go back to sleep until Misty wakes up,_" Andrew thought. However, when he turned back to rest, he saw by the pre-dawn twilight that Misty was already awake and looking at him, smiling.

"Good morning, dear," Misty said quietly.

"'Morning, Misty," Andrew replied, kissing her on the forehead.

"What time is it?"

"It's about ten 'till five. We should probably go back to sleep for a little while."

"No, it's okay; I'm not tired at all."

Misty sat up in the bed and stretched. Andrew stretched after standing from the bed. He walked over and turned up the lights so that they could see without being blinded.

"Oh my," Misty exclaimed.

Andrew quickly looked over at Misty, and asked, "What's wrong, dear? Are you cold?"

Misty was pulling her evening wear tightly across her chest, blushing furiously. "No, I'm not cold at all," she said.

"What was that 'oh my' about then?"

"I just noticed that I'd completely forgotten to tie my yukata after I dried myself off last night."

Andrew blushed slightly as his brain processed what Misty had said. "Well, if it's any consolation to you, I didn't even notice, much less see anything."

"It's alright. I'm just ashamed that I didn't notice it last night."

"Well, I'll just look at the door here while you go ahead and tie it."

Andrew turned and faced the door while Misty climbed out of the bed. The blanket caught the light yukata, nearly pulling it off completely as Misty stepped away from the bed. Scarlet, she hastily put her arm back through the removed sleeve, and tied her yukata tightly at the front.

"Okay," she said.

Andrew turned around, and noticed Misty's blushing. "If your face gets any redder, I might start to think you're turning into a cherry. Your cheeks are practically glowing."

"I was just," she paused, "caught off-guard."

A moment passed, and Misty added nervously, "Really, I don't care if you see me; it's others I'm concerned about."

Andrew noticed the trembling in Misty's voice, and gave her a hug from behind, saying in her ear, "Your body is your own private affair, and I'm not going to impede on your privacy until the time is right."

"Wh—when will that be?"

Andrew moved his arms down, holding his hands together in front of Misty's belly.

"The time will come when the time will come, is all I can say. It could be tomorrow, or it could be months or years away."

Misty placed her hands over Andrew's, and leaned her head up against his. "I really wish I knew when it was going to happen."

"Some things in life are better left as surprises."

"Oh, Andrew…"

Andrew tightened his arms around Misty slightly, and said, "Let's go sit and watch the sun rise for a while."

They walked down into the sunroom, guided by the dim blue twilight. Misty sat on Andrew's lap on the elbowed sofa, and he held her close. They sat and stared wordlessly at the mountain as the sun's light began to shine upon it. However, they both had each other on their minds.

"_I am curious to see if she'll try to make another move a short while from now,_" Andrew thought.

Misty, on the other hand, was thinking, "_I wonder when he'll cave and say that the time is right. Oh, I hope it's soon, I've been waiting for this for so long now._"

"Let's go get ready for the day, dear" Andrew eventually said, gently twirling a lock of Misty's hair.

They went into the bathroom and brushed their teeth. Misty walked off to bathe, as Andrew left for the sunroom to watch the sunrise again.

As he walked into the sunroom, he noticed Alexander sitting on the elbowed sofa, looking at the mountain.

"Dad, what are you doing up so early?" Andrew asked.

Alexander looked over at Andrew, and replied, "I usually wake up really early. Becky didn't like it though, and went back to sleep."

Andrew sat down on the limb of the elbow sofa opposite Alexander's, and said, "You know, I think Misty's trying to tempt me a little bit."

"What, do you mean she's trying to get you to have some 'fun' with her?"

"Yes. However, I don't know if the time's right."

"Well, I didn't hold myself back at all. That's what Becky and I did the first night we professed our love to each other, and look what became of that!"

"Okay, I did _not_ need to know that, but are you sure it's the right thing to do?"

"Andrew, it's in our blood to want to reproduce and perpetuate our species. Given that humans usually stay bound to each other their whole lives, it's a common way of signifying that you've chosen them above all others."

"I've never quite seen it that way before. But, what will mom think if it _does_ happen?"

"Oh, she'll understand. She's got a wild fire in that heart of hers, and it was _really_ burnin' last night!"

"Please, I'd rather you not go into detail about that one."

Alexander laughed. "Well, what I'm trying to get at is that if she has it in her heart that she wants to continue on like this, you really shouldn't deny yourself if your feelings for her are true."

"I understand. I have a feeling that she is going to press on as she is, though she seems nervous."

"It's always like that the first time. You just don't know how handle yourselves. Just relax a bit and let your instincts guide you."

"Thanks for the advice, dad."

"It's no problem. Though now that I really mull over what I've just told you, perhaps Becky and I should stay down at our new home tonight, if you catch my drift."

Andrew laughed as he stood, and said, "I'd much appreciate it, for sure!" He walked back up to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Andrew cast off his yukata, and held a towel near his waist as he entered the bathroom. Misty was looking towards the wall in the tub, so Andrew proceeded to shower.

As he showered, he said, "It seems my dad's an early riser."

"Why's that?"

"He was in the sunroom, staring at Mount Moon."

Andrew paused in silence for a minute, and then said, "While I was down there, I talked with him about our situation."

The water in the tub noisily shifted as Misty sank lower into it in embarrassment. Andrew watched the back of her head as best he could.

"He said," Andrew continued, "that it's our nature as humans. He went on to say that most humans stay together their whole lives, and that, in a way, it was a sign that one has chosen another above all the rest."

Misty's ears perked, and she raised her head out of the water slightly.

"He said that's what he and my mother did their first _night_ together. I can only assume that they were in a similar situation to ours."

Andrew rinsed himself, donned a towel, and entered the tub alongside Misty. She appeared to be thinking.

"The most important thing he said to me," Andrew said solemnly as he looked right into Misty's eyes, "was that if we should continue on with this, that I shouldn't deny myself if my feelings for you were true. And my feelings for you _are_ true, Misty, they really are. If you truly feel that you're ready to go a step farther, then I'll take that step with you."

Tears began to well up in Misty's eyes, as her face began to fill with color. She quickly threw herself upon Andrew, holding him tightly and kissing him passionately.

After Misty ceased her kiss, Andrew said, "As I had said before: that time could be tomorrow, it could be years away. Or it could even be tonight, if that's what you so please."

Misty kissed Andrew once again, and Andrew asked as he looked into her eyes, "Are you absolutely sure that you're ready to go that distance? After we go, there's no turning back."

Still staring deep into Andrew's eyes, Misty said softly, "Yes. I am ready. I've been ready for you since the day I first fell in love with you, two and a half years ago."

Misty broke her embrace with Andrew as she stood and stepped out of the tub. Out of habit, Andrew looked towards the back wall of the bathroom. Before removing her towel, Misty turned back towards Andrew and called his name calmly.

"Yes, dear?"

"I want you to turn and look at me."

Andrew shifted uncomfortably, the hair on his head started to stand upright slightly, and his face growing warm with blood flow. He wasn't sure if he believed what he had just heard asked of him. His face red as a ruby, Andrew turned around. Misty was not without her own high degree of obvious embarrassment as she slowly began to undo her towel.

After what seemed like an eternity, Misty's pink towel lied in a sopping wet heap at her ankles. She had shown herself to Andrew, in all her natural splendor. Andrew's eyes grew wide as he took in the sight before him. His mind was racing and blank simultaneously, as his eyes darted around and scanned every inch of her exposed skin. For him, it was wonderment unlike any that he had seen before, a beauty that no artist could replicate, that no supermodel could display.

Andrew eventually muttered, "Misty, your body is a beauty the likes of which I honestly cannot even see in dreams. The sight of your pure, nude body makes all of nature's wonders seem atrocious and decrepit."

Andrew quickly stood in the tub and stepped out.

"My love," he said, "You are a masterpiece all on your own, and the most awing sight that I've seen in my nineteen years of living."

As Andrew finished speaking, he brazenly cast his own towel aside. Confusion and awe were easily read from Misty's eyes as she too experienced a similar reaction from the unobstructed view of Andrew in the nude. He stepped closer to her, raising his arms, and said, "For you, a grace finer than all dancers of the world combined."

Misty also stepped forward, replying, "And for you, a power incomparable to the rule of a thousand nations."

They held one another, trying to resist their temptation to go the distance right then and there. They picked up the towels, cold and wet, and wrung them out over the floor drain. Exchanging wet towels for dry ones, they walked out of the bathroom, hand in hand. Alexander watched them from the floor below, saying wholeheartedly to himself, "That's my son!" Rebecca, sitting right next to Alexander, quickly said, "Something odd's happened up there, I know it!"

Once the bedroom door was locked, Andrew and Misty discarded their towels, and donned undergarments. As Misty was in the closet, looking for something to wear, Andrew walked in and admired her in the mirror. He then glanced over to the dresses of hers that were hanging next to his coats.

"You know," Andrew said, leafing through the dresses like pages in a book, "I almost never see you wear these dresses."

Misty looked at the multitude of dresses, and said, "You know, you're right."

"I don't see why you don't wear them though. They'd be perfect for a woman as mature as you to be wearing."

"Do you really think?"

Andrew picked out a flowing white dress, with a matching blouse. "Here, try this on," he said with a smile, holding up the garments.

"If I'm going to wear that, than you're going to wear this," Misty said, picking out a neatly-pressed businesslike suit.

"Ah, I forgot about this. It'll probably be good to wear at that press conference. It'll also be a viable reason for you to wear either a suit of your own, or one of these lovely dresses."

Andrew and Misty both donned the apparel that had been chosen for them, and stood facing one another.

"You know, Misty," Andrew said, looking over Misty's shoulder in the closet mirror, "That dress really suits you. I actually kind of like the way it looks more than most of your other outfits."

Misty turned and looked at herself in the mirror for a while, unsure of whether she liked the apparel or not. "Well," she said, "I'm not so sure about how I like this dress, but I do know that I think you look better in your coats, rather than in that suit. While yes, you do look cute in that suit, there's just something about those coats of yours that really strikes me."

Together, Andrew and Misty walked out of the bedroom, and across the walkway. Rebecca—from the kitchen—looked up at them in their unusual attire, and then to Alexander, saying "_what_ was it you said to him, again?"

"Oh, please tell me you at least told her what was going on, dad!" Andrew said from the pathway junction.

"Ah, I was just being sarcastic," Rebecca said. "Yeah, he told me what you two had talked about. I noticed that it was very odd that the both of you came walking out of the bathroom at the same time. You've never done that before."

"Indeed we haven't," Andrew replied. "Let's just say, well, never mind, you probably don't want to know."

"You're quite right I don't. Though I am glad to see you finally expanding your horizons and eventually facing what we're all born to do."

Misty had shied away from being seen from the floor below, due to her blushing.

"What's wrong, Misty?" Rebecca called.

"Nothing, Rebecca, just a whole lot of blushing, that's all."

"Ah, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. We all do it sooner or later. By the way, what's that you've got on? I don't think I've seen it before."

Misty hesitantly walked up to the railing to show her dress, carrying an uneasy expression on her face.

"What's wrong? Is there something you don't like about dresses?" Rebecca asked, as she was wearing a deep blue skirt that reached her ankles, and a powder blue blouse. "Besides, I've always thought that a dress would be more akin to your personality, considering you aren't really the flirty type like your regular outfits suggest."

"I know," Misty replied, "but there's just something I like about my normal outfits a little more."

"It's probably because they're easier to walk great distances in," Andrew said, "you've probably gotten used to them because of all the traveling you've done."

Misty nodded in agreement. "That's the most likely answer."

Andrew and Misty walked downstairs, and sat on the empty sofa.

"When's breakfast gonna' be done, hun?" Alexander asked, "I'm _starvin_'!"

"Oh you sit tight," Rebecca replied sarcastically, "It won't be too much longer."

Rebecca finished preparing breakfast, and everybody ate. After breakfast had been finished, Rebecca said, "Okay, Alex and I are going to shopping around for some furniture. That bed of mine is entirely too small for us both, and my dresser isn't big enough for two sets of clothes, either."

"Well," Andrew said, "Considering that you'll be buying a bed and dresser and all, you might want to take my truck with you."

"Ah," Alexander said, "so you've grown into a truck kinda' guy, huh?"

Andrew laughed, saying, "No, I normally drive a car, but the truck's good for hauling things around."

"True, true."

"There should be some straps and anchors in the bed, so you can secure the items down. Will you be okay with moving things?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. My Metagross can help with that."

"Oh, you've got a Metagross?"

"Indeed I do. What did you expect? I was in the Hoenn region for years."

"You do have a point. I went through the Hoenn region once, but only picked up a Ralts while I was there."

"Ralts isn't bad; though I take it it's a Gardevoir by now?"

"Most certainly."

"Well, anyway, I think we'll be off now. Furniture isn't going to buy itself!"

Rebecca and Alexander moved towards the door, putting on their shoes, and walked out. Just before Alexander closed the door, he said, "Now don't go getting too frisky while we're gone!"

Andrew and Misty laughed as Alexander closed the door. "I'm curious to see what that Metagross of his can do," Andrew said, "I've always wanted to have one."

"I heard they were strong."

"Well, they have a lot of both physical and mental power. They're definitely a force to deal with, though I've never fought one."

They continued talking for a while, and then walked outside. Andrew smelled the air, and said, "Yep, feels like a good day for some training!"

Andrew released his Charizard, and said to it, "Okay Charizard, let's head to the training area."

Charizard nodded, and turned around. As soon as Andrew and Misty were on its back, it took off towards Andrew's training area. They landed within minutes, and Andrew released his other three Pokémon.

"All right, everyone!" Andrew called out forcefully, "It's time for some training!"

Nidoking, Starmie, Gardevoir, and Charizard all let out a cheer, and fired themselves up for training.

"First up, Nidoking and Starmie!"

Nidoking and Starmie stepped forward and faced one another.

"Starmie, Water Gun!"

Andrew continued to call various attacks between both Nidoking and Starmie in rapid succession. "Nidoking, Thunderbolt! Bubblebeam! Earthquake! Swift! Dig! Swift again!"

After some time, Andrew stopped ordering attacks. "All right! Nidoking, Starmie, do a few laps, then regain your energy! Charizard, Gardevoir, up to the plate!"

After several cycles of attacks, runs, and rests, Andrew's Pokémon showed signs of exhaustion. Misty had not seen how Andrew trains his Pokémon privately before, and said, "You sure do train your Pokémon hard, don't you?"

"Yes, yes I do. It's the only way they're going to get stronger."

"I've never seen them get exhausted before, though."

"Well, that's a combination of two factors. First, consider the strength and type of the attacks that they're receiving, and secondly, consider the _rate_ that they're receiving them."

"You've got a point there. I can see why they don't really seem phased at all by attacks from other trainers' Pokémon, considering that they can take so many of each other's attacks so easily."

"Indeed." Andrew turned back to his Pokémon, which had a short time to rest, and said, "All right, Charizard and Starmie! Battle until you fall! Nidoking and Gardevoir, you do the same! Remember to attack with your most effectives!"

"What?!" Misty asked.

"It's the last part of my training sessions. I have them battle each other until they cannot continue. It helps them, because it's a real battle, but they have the independence to make decisions for themselves. That allows them to take actions without my input, which is good, for example, if something prevents me from ordering an attack."

The training battles continued on for almost half an hour. Eventually, Charizard and Gardevoir were beginning to look like they'd had all they can take."

"All right! Stop the battles! Starmie and Nidoking are victorious!"

All four of Andrew's Pokémon cheered, though Charizard and Gardevoir cheered somewhat weakly. Andrew returned them all to their Pokéballs, except for Charizard.

"All right, Charizard, you can fly us back home now."

Charizard roared in agreement, and flew Andrew and Misty back home. "Okay, Charizard. Rest now, we'll be at the Pokémon Center in a few minutes."

Andrew returned Charizard to its Pokéball, and then he and Misty entered his car. After a few minutes, they reached the Cerulean City Pokémon Center, and Andrew took his Pokéballs up to the front desk.

"Well, aren't we looking stylish today," Nurse Joy said as Andrew placed his Pokéballs on a tray. He laughed, and replied, "It's a long story." Nurse Joy nodded, and took the tray of Pokéballs to the back room. Andrew and Misty walked over to some bookshelves near the front desk, and browsed as they waited. Nurse Joy stepped back out to wait for more trainers. "I take it that you were training alone again, Andrew?" she said.

Andrew looked over at Nurse Joy and said, "Yeah. I find that they get stronger faster that way."

"They do. It seems like every time I examine them, their levels just get higher and higher. It's almost like there's no limit!"

"That's because there isn't. At least, not any limit that I've seen them hit yet."

"I honestly think that the Elite Four might be a bit of a pushover for you, Andrew."

"We'll see when the time comes."

"Well, I'll just say that Lance's strongest Pokémon, his Dragonite, is only rated at level one hundred and thirty."

"What? Lorelei told me that Lance trains his Pokémon very hard, every day."

"Yes, but I'm not sure if she understands just how strong your Pokémon really are. Lance trains very hard, and his Pokémon are very strong, but that's in comparison to the majority of the so-called 'strong' trainers. In that scope, your Pokémon are far above and beyond the extremes."

Andrew nodded wordlessly in agreement, and turned back to the bookshelf. A minute later, he heard Nurse Joy greeting someone.

"Oh, hello Rose."

"I'm surprised. You greet me like I haven't been away for years."

Misty and Andrew's ears perked as they heard Rose speak, and turned towards her. Rose said to Nurse Joy, "Here, my Pokémon need healed. They got knocked cold by a rather strong trainer passing through."

"Okay," Nurse Joy said, "But you'll probably have to wait for a while. Andrew Masako just brought his Pokémon in, and they're pretty well beaten up, so it's going to take some time for them to heal."

"Oh, Andrew's here?"

"Yes," Andrew said to Rose, "We've been standing right over here the whole time."

Rose looked over at them, and was taken aback. "Oh," she said, "I didn't even notice you standing there! How are you two doing?"

"Better than fine, mom!" Misty exclaimed.

Rose glanced at Misty's dress, and said, "Wow, dear, I never expected you to be wearing a dress! You didn't even wear them when you were young. You know, you look so much nicer in a dress. Actually, if you let your hair grow long again, your sisters would stop teasing you."

"Why do you say that?"

"I was talking with them last night about it. They were saying that the way you look completely goes against the way you act; you know how superficial they are. Anyway, you're a proper girl, and if you'd just look they part, your sisters would ease off of you."

"That," Misty said sarcastically, "And I'd almost look like you if I grew my hair long."

Rose laughed, and said, "Well, I suppose so, but I don't think that'd be why they'd leave you alone."

"Andrew, your Pokémon have been healed," Nurse Joy said, carrying Andrew's tray of Pokéballs.

"Ah, thanks Nurse Joy."

"It's a pleasure."

Nurse Joy took Rose's Pokéballs to the back room, and very shortly after, came back out, the tray full of Pokéballs in hand.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Rose said.

"Wow," Andrew said, "it's been a while since I've seen knocked-out Pokémon healed so quickly."

"Well, you know how it is. The lower the level, the quicker they heal." Rose sighed. "It's been a really long time since I've done any serious battling. I've really lost my edge."

"Ah, it'll come back quickly enough," Andrew said reassuringly.

"Hey mom," Misty said, "do you want to come back up to Andrew's place with us? Some news came our way last night that I want to talk to you about."

"Well, I'm not really doing anything important, so sure, why not?"

They all returned to Andrew's home, and stepped in. Rose saw Andrew and Misty taking off their shoes in the entrance area, and joked, "I see that you're still enforcing that no-shoe rule here, even after all these years."

They all took seat on the sofas, and Rose began.

"So what's this news you spoke of?"

"Well," Misty said, and then paused. "Actually, I'll let Andrew tell you."

Andrew laughed, and said, "Okay then. We'll the short and skinny of it is that my mother's moving to a new house back down in Fuchsia City, and is leaving this house to me."

"Oh, that's wonderful!"

"But that's not all, mom," Misty started. "As Rebecca is moving out, I'm going to be moving in!"

"That's even better!"

"Why's that?"

"Well, I was getting tired of island life, especially when I don't have any boat capable of going to the mainland. So, I was playing around with the idea of possibly moving back up here. Since you'll be moving out, my old bedroom will be available again. That allows me to move in with no discomfort to you and your sisters."

"I take it," Andrew said, "that you bounced that idea off of Daisy, Violet, and Lily last night?"

"Oh, of course I did. They seemed very eager for me to move back."

Just then, Rebecca and Alexander walked in.

"Rose? Is that you?" Rebecca asked.

"Becky!" Rose exclaimed. She quickly ran up and gave Rebecca a friendship hug, exclaiming, "Oh, it's been so long since I've last seen you! How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been just fine, Rose."

Andrew and Misty looked at each other and shrugged in confusion. They knew that Rose and Rebecca were very good friends, but knew almost nothing of how they acted together.

"And who's this looker here?" Rose asked, looking at Alexander.

"This is my husband, Alex," Rebecca said.

"Ah, so _you're_ Alex," Rose said, shaking his hand. "You look better in person than in those old photos I remember."

"Thanks," Alexander said, "but who are you?"

Rose and Rebecca laughed. "This is my friend Rose," Rebecca said. "She was the last leader of the Cerulean Gym, and Misty's mother."

"Oh!" Alexander exclaimed. Shaking Rose's hand, he said, "Pleased to meet you."

"So what're you doing up here, anyway?" Rebecca asked.

"Well, I ran into Andrew and Misty at the Pokémon Center, and Misty told me that she had some news to tell me. We came up here, and Andrew told me about how you were moving back to Fuchsia and were going to leave this house to him. Then Misty was just telling me about how she's going to move in with him. It's great, because that also lets me move back up here to Cerulean like I wanted to!"

"Oh, you're moving back to Cerulean? That's great! At least now you won't be half-stranded on Mandarin Island anymore."

Rebecca, Alexander, and Rose sat on the sofa across from Andrew and Misty, and chatted amongst one another.

"So," Rose asked Alexander, "Have you been exercising those fatherly duties since you've been back?"

"Well," Alexander said jokingly, "I've only been back for a day, but yes, I have. Why, just early this morning, Drew came down and talked to me about something that Misty wanted to do."

Andrew and Misty immediately turned bright red in the face, and the living room fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, oblivious as to why everyone had suddenly fallen silent. "And what's with you two? You're both beet red."

"Well, erm, uh, you see," Andrew stammered.

"Eh?" Rose asked, giving Andrew a confused look. "Meowth got your tongue or something? And Becky, you look like you just sat on a nail."

After a moment of jumbled speaking and fumbling around, Andrew and Misty's evening plans were revealed.

"Oh." Rose said in monotone. "I see."

"Well, uh," Rebecca said hastily, "Perhaps now would be a good time to go move that furniture down to Fuchsia." Grabbing Alexander by the arm, she said coarsely, "Come on, dear. Let's go."

Within seconds, Rebecca and Alexander had left the house.

"You know, Misty," Rose said through the silence, "at least with your father, I waited for a month." She put her finger to her lip in thought, and added, "But then again, I only knew him for two months before we started dating. Perhaps there's some justification for your 'haste.' After all, it was what—two and a half years—you said you were in love with him when we were talking on the yacht?"

"Yes," Misty said with a guilty tone.

"Oh, lighten up dear," Rose said, "I'm not angry with you, just a bit surprised, is all."

After another span of silence, Rose continued, "Well, look. If you're so intent on going through with this, at least let me share with you some information. This is one of those things that you _really_ should know about before getting into."

Rose talked with Misty and Andrew about what they were to expect from the evening's actions. She also spoke of the good that could come from it, and why it's beneficial to a relationship. At the end of her conversation, Rose said, "Needless to say, 'breaking the seals' has its perks, but it might be a lot to handle. The ability to control your feelings will come with time, however."

"I should go tell my sisters about this," Misty said, smirking.

"Suddenly you want to share our private lives with everybody, dear?" Andrew asked.

"No, I just want to see the looks on their faces."

They all laughed. "Well, they sure would be envious," Rose said. "I know how much they were fawning over you, even when you were a lot younger."

They all left the house and went to Cerulean. As it was the weekend, the Gym was closed early, and Daisy, Violet, and Lily were all at home.

"I'm back!" Rose said as she entered the house.

"That, like, took a while," Daisy said from another room. As she entered the living room, she noticed Misty, and shouted, "Whoa!"

"What?" Rose asked.

"It's Misty," Daisy replied, "and she's, like, actually wearing a dress. It's, like, unbelievable."

"What's unbelievable?" Lily asked, as she and Violet came walking down the stairs. As soon as Lily noticed Misty in her dress, she said, "That _is_ unbelievable."

"Though it does look good on you, Misty." Violet said.

"Yeah, like, it does," Daisy said, nodding.

"What made you want to wear a dress?" Lily asked.

"It was Andrew's suggestion. He picked it out and asked me to wear it."

Daisy walked over to Andrew, and whispered in his ear, "Good call."

"I've got good news, guys," Rose said. "I found out that Andrew's mother's moving to Fuchsia, and leaving the house to him. With that, Misty's going to be moving in with him, which means that I can move back here!"

"That's great!" Violet cheered.

Daisy gave a sly look towards Misty, and whispered to her, "How long 'till you're sleepin' with him, if you catch my drift?"

Misty smirked, and whispered back, "Tonight, that's how long from now."

Daisy lost her expression, and practically screamed, "_WHAT_?!"

Everyone jumped at Daisy's outburst, as she continued, "Girls, upstairs for a minute. Misty, you stay down here."

Daisy ran up the steps, quickly followed by Violet and Lily, with Rose calmly walking up behind. Their chatter, though muffled and incomprehensible, was heard through the ceiling above. After a while, they all filtered back downstairs, and Daisy spoke up.

"Okay sis, this is it!"

"If you're really doing this, we're going to make sure you do it looking your best!" said Lily.

"Upstairs, now!" Violet ordered.

Daisy, Violet, and Lily ran behind Misty, quickly shooing her up the stairs. "Guys, you really don't need to do this!" Misty exclaimed while being quickly shoved up the stairs. Rose waited down with Andrew.

"Dare I ask what they plan on doing?" Andrew asked Rose.

"You'll see. You might like it quite a bit."

Almost an hour went by before anyone was seen from upstairs. Violet came running down the stairs, and over into a small powder room. She quickly picked up a box, and ran back up the stairs wordlessly.

"That box is still around?" Rose asked herself.

"What do you mean?"

"That box has a special shampoo in it."

"A special shampoo? What does it do?"

"You'll see. This one I _know_ you'll like," Rose said, running her hand through her long and shiny orange hair.

Andrew folded his arms, and said, "As much as I like surprises, this wait is starting to get me _really_ antsy, and I don't like that."

A few minutes later, Daisy shouted "Perfect!" from upstairs. She ran downstairs, and exclaimed, "That's it; we're done!"

"About time," Andrew said.

"Right this way, please," Daisy said, holding her arm out to the staircase.

Andrew walked up the stairs, Daisy in front, and Rose behind him. Daisy stopped in front of one of the upstairs doors, and asked, "Are you, like, ready to see our work of art?"

"You know," Andrew said, "the way you said that makes it seem like you've been doing face painting or something up here."

"Nope, we've just been working our Waterflower magic."

"We'll see how magic it is, then."

Daisy opened the door slowly, and before Andrew saw anything, he caught a huge gust of perfume and cleansing products, making him gag slightly. The door opened, and standing in the middle of the room was Misty, decked out in one of her sisters' dresses. In her hair was a flower. Her face was covered in several different types of makeup, placed with precision and care, and with very subtle effect. She had on a layer of ruby-red lipstick, and her fingernails were painted snowy-white. Small blue-gemmed earrings accented her eyes; she wore a golden band on her right ring finger, and a thin golden necklace. Her hair shined, and it was long—_very_ long.

Andrew was stunned. He didn't speak; he didn't know what he would have wanted to say anyway. He slowly walked up to her as her sisters moved away from her. Taking her by the hand, he said quietly and slowly, "I must say, you look absolutely stunning."

Misty smiled, and Andrew smiled back. He held her, and they began to dance around slowly, though to no music at all. However, their moment was hastily cut short, as Daisy spoke up.

"One down, one to go!"

Andrew looked over at Daisy, and muttered, "Wha?"

"Don't think that we're just going to stop with her!" Violet said.

"Yeah, now it's your turn!" Lily chimed in.

Lily and Violet quickly seized Andrew, while Daisy led Misty out of the room. Misty, Daisy, and Rose walked downstairs. Misty and Rose took seats on the sofas, but Daisy was quickly flipping through a large phone book. "This is a night that you're _never_ going to forget!"

"Daisy, you really don't need to—" Misty started, but was quickly cut off.

"No way. You're our little sis, and this is where and when you grow up. And I'll be cursed if I'm going to let you do it alone. Ah! Here it is!"

Daisy ran to a phone, and dialed a number. "Hello, is this the Vicett restaurant? Good. Do you have any tables available tonight? What do you mean 'only if it's someone famous?' Well, you're in luck. I'd like to book an impromptu reservation under Andrew Masako. Yes, _the_ Andrew Masako. Would you like me to put him on the phone? I thought so. He'll be arriving at seven o'clock, then. All right, thanks. Bye."

"You're kidding," Misty said flatly.

"Oh, no I'm not!" Daisy exclaimed. "Tonight, you're gettin' a nice, fancy date, all on us."

Misty sighed, as Daisy ran up the stairs.

"You people are crazy!" Andrew said as he was being nudged down the stairs.

"No, we just care a lot," Lily said.

"Now let's get you a suit more fitting for the occasion," Daisy said as she opened the front door.

Misty watched as her sisters shoved Andrew out of the door. Daisy leaned back in and said, "We'll be back soon," and slammed the door shut.

"Sheesh," Rose said. "Sometimes it seems like those girls can get _anything_ done."

Before long, Andrew too was primped up and prepared for a formal, candlelit dinner.

"Okay, the limo's gonna' be here in about half an hour," Daisy said.

"Limo?!" Misty and Rose asked, surprised.

"Yeah, Daisy called for it on the way to get Andrew's suit."

"Do you people have golden tongues or something?" Andrew said sarcastically.


	11. First Date, Formal Date

**Chapter 11: First Date, Formal Date**

The limousine had arrived, and Andrew and Misty stepped in, quickly followed by Daisy and Rose. Within minutes, they were off towards Viridian City.

"So tell me," Andrew began, "just _how_ in the world did Misty's hair get so long?"

"Well," Rose began, "remember that shampoo I told you about? The thing about it is that it stimulates the scalp, and causes hair to grow at an extremely fast rate. It also makes the hair extremely shiny."

"Yeah," Misty said, "they just put it on, and before I knew it, my hair was down to my waist. It made me feel really drained though, and made my head itch a lot."

"Okay," Andrew asked, "exactly where did you get this miracle shampoo?"

"It was created by a cousin of mine," Rose said. "He does a lot of cosmetics research and laboratory work, and made it for me. It's a completely secret formula that nobody knows about."

"What compelled you to ask him to make something like that?"

"Well, you see, our hair really doesn't grow past our shoulders—ever."

"What?"

"It's true," Misty added. "I haven't had to have a haircut in years. Though I never really did know why." She turned to Rose and asked, "Do you know why that is, mom?"

"Well, yes," Rose said, thinking, "but perhaps I'll tell you about it tomorrow."

"Why are you so dodgy with telling us anything all of a sudden?" Andrew questioned.

"Some things are better left as surprises."

Andrew folded his arms, and said, "Gee, that's the same thing I told Misty this morning."

"So what exactly _is_ the Vicett restaurant, anyway?" Misty asked.

"Oh, it's just, like, one of _the_ most high-class restaurants in Viridian," Daisy said matter-of-factly.

"And where do you get the money to afford all of this?" Rose asked.

"It's from all the shows we do. They're always drawing large crowds, and we make loads of money from it."

"Ah," Rose said, nodding.

"Just one thing though, Andrew," Daisy said. "This place is totally swamped with paparazzi, because of all the famous people that eat there."

"Quite frankly, I expected that," Andrew said. "I hate them so much, it sickens me."

"Tell me though, Daisy," Rose began. "Have you guys ever thought about starting a salon or beauty parlor? You've practically set Misty up to win the Miss Kanto award."

Misty blushed. "Oh, don't say that, mom. I feel like a clown with all this makeup on."

"But she's got a point," Andrew said. "You do look absolutely gorgeous right now."

Misty blushed even harder, as Rose said to Daisy, "I think you could do it. If you pull in so much money from performances, just think about how much you'd make with a salon on the side!"

"Well," Daisy began, "I've, like, never really thought about it."

"Run it by your sisters and see what they think; it might turn out to be a really lucrative business."

After some time, the limousine had arrived at the Vicett restaurant in Viridian City. Andrew and Misty stepped out, hand in hand, with Daisy and Rose a few steps behind.

"I just heard a camera click," Andrew said, looking around.

"Oh, don't be so paranoid, Andrew," Rose said.

A bush nearby rustled slightly as a shadowy figure darted away from it. As the person passed through some light, a long-lens camera was in his hand.

"Paranoid, you say?"

"I, like, told you the paparazzi crowded this place."

Andrew sighed.

"But, like, don't worry. I've arranged with the reservations manager to have all the expenses put in my name."

"Well," Misty said, "that's really kind of you, but like I said before, you really don't need to do all of this."

"Oh sis, just chill. We're your sisters, and we love ya, whether you think so or not. Sit back and enjoy the ride while ya can."

Andrew and Misty walked up to a doorman.

"Okay, this is where we, like, head out. You're on your own from here. The limo will take you back to your place."

"Thanks, Daisy," Andrew said.

Misty mumbled, "You _really_ didn't have to do this," as Daisy and Rose walked back to the limousine.

As the limousine drove away, the doorman asked, "Your reservation name, please, sir."

"Masako," Andrew said. "That is, if it's on your list."

The doorman scanned the list, and said, "Ah, here it is. Please, enjoy your dinner, mister Masako."

As Andrew and Misty walked into the restaurant, the doorman said into a small radio, "The Masako reservation has arrived for his table."

Inside, they were greeted by a waiter, who bowed and said, "Welcome to the Vicett restaurant, mister Masako. Right this way to your table."

The waiter grabbed two menus, and led Andrew and Misty over to a small, round table, the candles in the center already lit. Andrew pulled out a chair, allowing Misty to sit. He gently slid the chair back under the table, and sat down across from her as the waiter placed the menus.

"Would you like anything to drink?" the waiter asked.

"Just water, if you would please," Andrew said.

"Yes, water would be fine, thank you," Misty added.

"Certainly," the waiter said, "I'll be back shortly."

Andrew opened up his menu, and browsed through the meals. "I've never even heard of some of these dishes," he said.

"Neither have I," Misty added.

Eventually, they had made their decisions. The waiter returned with their drinks, and collected their orders and menus. As the waiter walked off, Andrew looked at Misty and said, "I must say, dear, your sisters have really brought out the best in your appearance. Every little curve and shade has been brought out, and has made you look your best."

"Thanks for the complement, but I really don't think I look terribly too great with all this makeup on. My face feels dry, and I feel like I'm wearing face paint."

"Oh, don't worry about it so much, honey. I still think you look gorgeous, with or without makeup. But for now, just try to appreciate what your sisters are doing for you."

"I do appreciate it, but I just don't think that they needed to do this."

"Well, at least it shows that they really do care for you."

They continued talking until the food was brought out. Andrew looked down at his dish, eloquently prepared.

"Well, it certainly does _look_ nice," he said, "but the actual quantity of food isn't very high."

Misty nodded, and said, "You're right. How these meals fill people up is beyond me."

"Ah well, I guess that's just because we're so used to large meals, even if they aren't the pinnacle of culinary art."

They ate their food in a relatively short time, in addition to the side basket of bread. Afterwards, they talked for a few minutes, until Andrew noticed the music that was playing.

"You know," he said, "I just now noticed that there's a band over there playing music."

Misty looked over towards the band, and said, "It looks like there's a dance floor over there, too."

"Well, then," Andrew said, standing up and holding out his hand. "Would you care to dance, my love?"

Misty took Andrew's hand, replying, "Most certainly."

They walked over to the dance floor, and began to dance in time to the music.

"You know," Andrew said, "its funny; I've only learned the dances, but never practiced them at all. Though here and now, with you, dancing just seems to come so easily and natural."

Misty smiled, and said, "Daisy taught me all sorts of dances. I guess that all she wanted for me was to be a bit of a 'proper' woman."

"That's probably why they're going through such great lengths for you now."

As they danced, Misty noticed somebody out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey look," she said, "I think that's Lorelei over there."

Andrew looked over, and said, "Why yes, I do believe it is."

"Let's go and say hi."

"Wouldn't that be a bit rude to disturb her though?"

"Oh, come now, I'm sure she'd be happy to see us. Besides, it looks like they're finishing up dancing anyway."

They stopped dancing, and walked over to Lorelei, as she and the man with her were just leaving the dance floor. "Why hello there, Lorelei," Andrew said.

Lorelei turned, and said, "Andrew! I would have never expected to see you here!"

"Believe me, Lorelei," Andrew said, "I would have never expected to see myself here, either."

"Hey," the man with Lorelei said, "aren't you Andrew Masako?"

"Why yes, I am."

"Oh, I completely forgot to introduce you," Lorelei said. "This is my husband, Peter."

"Nice meeting you, Andrew," Peter said, holding out his hand. As Andrew shook Peter's hand, he said, "The pleasure's all mine, surely." Andrew motioned towards Misty, and said, "This is my girlfriend, Misty Waterflower."

Philip took Misty's hand, giving it a courtesy kiss on the back. "A pleasure meeting you, miss Waterflower."

Misty blushed, and holding her hand near her face, said, "Oh, you really need not be so formal, mister Mutawa."

Lorelei said, "Misty, I must say, you look very nice tonight. Who did your hair, and how did it get so long all of a sudden?"

"It was my sisters," she said. "It was some sort of special shampoo they gave me. They also did all of my makeup, too, since I don't wear makeup."

"Well, I must say, they've really done a wonderful job. Are they in the cosmetics industry?"

"Oh, no. They're just obsessed with beauty. My mother did suggest that they start a salon, though."

"I agree that they should. When I first saw you, I thought you were Rose herself!"

Misty blushed slightly at the compliment. Andrew said, "Well, if it weren't for her sisters, we wouldn't even be here tonight."

"Oh?" Lorelei asked, "Why's that?"

"They set us up with a table here for tonight."

"Really? That must have taken some serious persuasion then. Here, you have to reserve your table four months in advance!"

"I said that they must have golden tongues," Andrew joked.

"If they could get you in here so quickly, then they must have," Peter said.

"Would you like to join us at our table?" Lorelei asked.

"Sure," Andrew said.

Lorelei led Andrew and Misty back to her table, and sitting at the table was none other than Lance himself.

"Hey Lance, look who I bumped into on the dance floor!"

Lance looked up, and his eyes widened. "Well if it isn't Andrew Masako himself!" He stood and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Andrew."

"And it's quite an honor to meet you too, Lance," Andrew replied.

"And who's this with you?" Lanced asked, looking at Misty. "Aren't you Rose Waterflower, the former Cerulean Gym leader?"

"Oh, not at all," Lorelei said with a chuckle, "this is her youngest daughter, Misty."

"Oh my," Lance said, shaking Misty's hand, "You're every bit as beautiful as your mother is."

Misty blushed, and said, "Thank you, Lance."

Lance walked over to the seat next to his, and said, "This is my wife, Lauren."

"Nice to meet you, Lauren," Andrew and Misty said.

"It's nice meeting you, too," Lauren replied.

"Please, have a seat," Lorelei said, sitting down.

Andrew and Misty sat down in two available seats.

"So Andrew," Lance started, "Are you looking forward to taking on the Elite Four?"

"Most certainly I am," Andrew replied, "I look forward to battling you with great earnest."

"That's good to hear. I've had my eye on you since you cleaned up at the Indigo League. I figured that it was just a matter of time before you challenged us."

Lance took a piece of bread from a basket on the table, and said, "So—I've been wanting to know this for a while now—just what level _is_ that Nidoking of yours, anyway?"

"Well," Andrew began, "I don't really like to play the numbers game too much. A Pokémon's strength can't really be viably ascertained by a mere number, and Nidoking has a tendency to foul up all the level-reading devices anyway."

"Foul up? In what way?" Lance asked before taking another bite of his bread."

"Well, whenever it tries to process the level number, it comes up with a number in the negative. Though Professor Oak got ahold of some updated software, and Nidoking's level is supposedly two-hundred and eighty-four."

Lance choked on his bread, and coughed. "I didn't even think such a level was even possible," he said.

"Well, I think that Nidoking's sheer uniqueness has a bit of a hand in that. But why are you so surprised?"

"Beyond the fact that I wasn't expecting such a high number, I also have grim expectations of my success in our match."

"Why's that?"

"Well, my Dragonite's level is only one hundred and forty-five, but the last time I had her level checked was before the Indigo League."

"I see."

"Well, just because their numbers are so different, doesn't mean that you won't have a challenge. I've seen level twenty Pokémon take down level fifties before. It boils down to the skill of the trainer, and the bonds he has with his Pokémon."

"I agree wholeheartedly. Besides, like I said, I don't really bet my money on the levels alone."

Lorelei sighed. "How typical of you, Lance. Battling, battling, battling; it's all you talk about."

"Well, it's just what I do," Lance joked.

They talked for some time, before Lance decided to get up and dance with Lauren for a bit. Andrew and Misty decided to enjoy one last dance before bidding their goodbyes to Lance and Lorelei. They walked outside, and found that their limousine had been waiting for them, its driver sitting calmly, reading a newspaper.

The chauffeur noticed Andrew and Misty approaching, and quickly stepped out, opening the door. They stepped in, and off towards their home they went. When they arrived, Andrew gave the chauffeur a sizeable tip, and he drove away.

Andrew walked in, and found Rebecca and Alexander sitting on the couch, watching the television.

"Oh, hey guys," Rebecca said, looking up. She looked away, and then quickly looked up again. "You two look like you were out for a night on the town!"

"We sort of were," Andrew said.

Rebecca looked over at Misty, and said, "Misty, you look _spectacular_!"

Misty smiled, and said, "Thanks, Rebecca. But really, this was my sisters' doing."

"Ah, your sisters got ahold of you, huh?"

"Yeah. I went to tell them about our 'plans' for tonight, and they flipped out and dragged me upstairs. They put all sorts of makeup and perfume on me, and washed my hair with this crazy shampoo that made my hair grow down to my waist."

"I was about to ask how your hair got so long all of a sudden. For a second there, I thought you were Rose."

"Everybody's been saying that."

"Well, I'd love to stay and talk, but it's getting late, and I'm sure you'll be wanting to have your fun. We'll stop by tomorrow."

Rebecca stood up, followed closely by Alexander. As they walked out, Alexander whispered to Andrew, "Do your father proud, Drew."

Andrew nodded, and looked out the window as Rebecca's car drove away from the house.

"Well, Misty," Andrew began, "I suppose it's just you and I now."

"Yeah."

Andrew walked over to her, and gave her a kiss. "Whether you think so or not, dear, you really do look lovely."

Andrew went over to the light switch, and turned off the lights. In the illumination of the moonlight, he walked back over to Misty. As Andrew hugged her, Misty said, "I'm really nervous right now."

Andrew ran his fingers through Misty's hair, picking out the flower that her sisters had put there. "It's okay, dear. I'm nervous too."

He walked her up the stairs, placing the flower on the coffee table. After shutting the door, Andrew turned on the lights, albeit dimly. He hugged Misty again, and gave her a kiss.

"Are you ready, my dear?" Andrew asked, running his hand down Misty's side.

Misty pulled herself closer to Andrew, and said nervously, "Yes. Yes, I am ready."

The events that followed led to experiences, emotions, and sensations the likes of which neither Andrew nor Misty had ever felt before. Afterwards, they lied in the bed, breathing heavily. Neither of them could speak; they really didn't have to. After some time, Andrew said between breaths, "And so closes another major chapter in the grand book of our lives."

Misty rolled beside Andrew, putting her arm around him. "That was so exhausting."

"Exhausting, but exhilarating."

"We should get ready for bed; I'm so very tired."

They slowly and shakily stood, and stumbled towards the bathroom. Andrew reached to his waist to unfasten his belt before realizing that he was unclothed anyway. Misty reached for a towel to wear in the tub, but figured that it was pointless now anyway. The towel for the tub no longer had any purpose, since they no longer had anything to hide from one another.

They quietly bathed together, and sank into the tub.

Misty grunted. "Is it just me, or does this water seem hotter than usual to you?"

"It's not just you. My blood is still flowing hot through my veins, too."

After a while, they stood from the tub, and dried off. Completely ignoring their yukata hanging on the wall, they walked back to the bedroom, lied down, and quickly fell asleep from their exhaustion.


	12. The Genetic Blessing

**Chapter 12: The Genetic Blessing**

Fever. Andrew was the first to awaken, his body aching. He shifted his position slightly, rolling onto his back. He stretched in the bed, waking Misty up. Andrew looked back towards her, and smiled warmly. Misty smiled back, blushing as she put her hand around Andrew's shoulder.

"Was last night a dream?" She asked softly.

"If, by that, you mean a dream come true, then yes, it was."

Misty stretched, and sat up in the bed. She looked down at herself, part of her hair hanging over her shoulder. "And to think," she said, "just yesterday, I was getting embarrassed because my yukata was open, and now I'm not wearing anything at all."

Andrew stood and stretched again, saying, "Well, I guess I'm in the same boat along with you."

Misty giggled, and stood as well. Andrew opened the door and quickly scanned for anyone downstairs. After concluding that the downstairs was empty, he and Misty walked over to the bathroom. After brushing their teeth, Andrew rubbed his chin.

"Odd," he said.

"What's that?"

"I should have some stubble or something. It feels like I had just shaved, though."

Andrew continued rubbing his chin, and said, "No, actually, it feels even smoother than just after a shave."

Misty shrugged, and said, "I dunno."

They showered, and climbed into the tub.

"Ah, that really kills that ache I woke up with," Andrew said.

"Same here."

They went back into the bedroom, and dressed. Misty stepped from the closet in a pale lavender blouse with a long lavender skirt.

"Voluntarily putting on a dress now, dear?" Andrew asked.

"Well, I figured I might as well run with it for a while. Besides, it feels more comfortable to wear."

Andrew threw on some tan pants, a pale green shirt, and his tan trench coat. He and Misty went downstairs, and Andrew prepared breakfast.

As they ate, Andrew asked, "So, dear. Do you want to start moving some of your stuff up here today?"

"Sure."

Misty sighed, and prodded her food in thought. "You know," she said, "it's funny how fast life's been coming at us in the past couple of days."

"Well, that's just how life is, dear." Andrew leaned over and gave Misty a hug. "Like your sisters said: just sit back and enjoy the ride."

"Yeah."

They finished eating, and Andrew walked out into the sunroom. However, the sun room wasn't so sunny today, as clouds blanketed the sky. Misty walked in shortly after, and said, "I think it's going to rain. I can feel it."

Andrew nodded, and said, "Perhaps. Oh well, we haven't had any rain for a while, so I guess it's to be expected. I might as well get some training in before it does start, though."

He walked outside, through the front of the house. Upon stepping outside, he released all of his Pokémon.

"All right guys," he started, "It's going to rain soon, so we'll make today's training session somewhat short."

Gardevoir looked down towards the ground, and then up to the sky. She made a low chirping noise.

"What do you mean, 'not today'?" Andrew asked, confused.

Misty gave Andrew an odd look. "How did you know what she said?"

"I know my Pokémon well enough to understand them, to a degree. Though I've never quite understood Gardevoir so clearly before."

Gardevoir looked at Andrew, and uttered another chirp.

Andrew stepped backwards, a bit surprised at what he heard. "Okay, that's odd. I understand Gardevoir completely. I think she's talking to me psychically."

"Well, I would figure that's how a psychic Pokémon would communicate."

"Yeah, but she's _never_ done this before."

Gardevoir chirped again.

"You have?" Andrew asked. "I just never understood before?"

"Maybe she found the frequency that your brain operates on, or something."

"No," Andrew said as Gardevoir chirped again. "She says she's known my brain frequency since she was but a young Ralts. Something's happened that's caused me to understand the messages she sends with perfect clarity."

Nidoking growled, and Andrew asked, "What's that, Nidoking?"

Gardevoir chirped in translation.

"It seems," Andrew said, "Nidoking knows something strange is going on."

Gardevoir chirped again. "And apparently, Rebecca and Rose are headed this way right now. They're practically behind one another on the road leading out this way as we speak."

Starmie looked towards Gardevoir, its gem flashing wildly. Gardevoir chirped again.

"That, and Starmie says that the rain's already started falling from the clouds. It'll reach the ground in a minute or so. Perhaps we should go back in."

Andrew recalled his Pokémon, and walked back inside. Surely enough, shortly after they had gone back in, a heavy downpour crashed to the ground.

"I guess Starmie was right," Misty said as she watched the rain falling.

Within minutes, two cars drove slowly down the driveway, and into the garage. Andrew opened the door, waiting for his guests to enter. Rebecca, Alexander, and Rose walked in.

"Well, aren't we coming by a bit early, today?" Andrew asked sarcastically.

"I called Becky while she was here, and told her that she should probably come up early today," Rose said.

"Yeah, we met up with her at the Cerulean Gym, just as the winds were starting to pick up," Rebecca added.

"I knew you were on your way here," Andrew said. "For some reason, I suddenly was able to hear Gardevoir talking to me psychically, and she told me that you both were on your way here."

'You heard her psychically?" Rebecca asked, confused.

"Yeah. I don't know what's happened that caused me to start understanding her."

They all sat down on the sofas, and talked for a while. Rose kept checking her watch.

"What's wrong, mom?" Misty asked. "Is there something you've got to do later?"

"No honey, I'm just waiting for something. It shouldn't be long now."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

"Again with being dodgy," Andrew said. "Come on, just tell us what it is you're waiting for."

"It wouldn't matter if I told you anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Rebecca asked.

"It doesn't matter, it's already started."

Rebecca was about to ask Rose another question, when Alexander asked, "Drew? Misty? What's wrong?"

Andrew and Misty had turned ghostly pale, and were shaking.

"Ugh," Andrew said weakly, "I don't feel too good all of a sudden."

"Neither do I," Misty added.

Within seconds, Andrew and Misty stopped shaking, and fell unconscious. Andrew, who had been propping himself against the arm of the sofa, rolled off of the sofa and onto the floor, while Misty fell across the sofa.

"Andrew! Misty!" Rebecca called out in desperation.

"Oh no! What's happened?" Alexander asked nervously.

Rose sat calmly, looking at her watch. "So, it was about nine forty-five that they did it, then."

Rebecca looked over at Rose, and asked worryingly, "What's going on, Rose? Why are you so calm?"

"Look, let's just get them to the hospital near Saffron. I've got a cousin that's a doctor there, and he knows all about what's going on, and will fill you in on all the details."

Alexander walked over to Andrew, and clipped two Pokéballs off of his belt. He released the two Pokémon, Starmie and Gardevoir. He recalled Starmie, and instead, called out his own Metagross. Gardevoir looked down at Andrew and Misty, lying unconscious.

"Gardevoir," Rebecca began, "We need to get these two to a hospital near Saffron." Gardevoir looked up at Rose as if to say, "I don't know where that is."

"Metagross," Alexander said, "do you know where the hospital in Saffron is?"

Metagross shrugged.

"We'll just have to drive there, then," Rose said plainly. "Let's get these two to the car."

"Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" Rebecca asked.

"No," Rose said. "This is a special matter, and we can't have any uneducated people interfering."

Gardevoir and Metagross used their psychic abilities to lift Andrew and Misty into the air, and led them out to the garage.

"We'll take Daisy's SUV," Rose said.

Rose opened the side of the vehicle, as Metagross and Gardevoir placed Andrew and Misty into the rear seats. Rebecca fastened their seatbelts, before getting in the seat between them. Alexander recalled both Gardevoir and Metagross before fastening himself in the passenger's seat. Rose started the vehicle, and drove off towards Saffron City.

About 45 minutes later, they had arrived at the hospital that Rose talked about. It wasn't very large, and was a short ways off of the main roads. Metagross and Gardevoir were again released, and lifted Andrew and Misty out of their seats. They all went inside, and Rose stepped up to the front desk.

"We need to see Doctor Frank Eschel immediately," Rose said.

The receptionist at the front desk lifted the phone and paged for Dr. Eschel. A minute later, a tall, thin, brown-haired man came walking into the lobby. "Oh, hello Rose. It's good to see you," he said.

"It's good to see you too, Frank. Look, we've got a bit of a situation."

Frank looked towards Misty and Andrew, held aloft by Metagross and Gardevoir.

"I take it that Misty finally did it?" Frank asked matter-of-factly.

Rose nodded.

"Very well, then," Frank said. He turned to Rebecca and Alexander, and asked, "And who might you be?"

"We're Alexander and Rebecca Masako. The boy here is our son, Andrew," Alexander said.

"I see. Right this way, please."

Frank led them down a hall. As they walked, Rose said, "This is Doctor Frank Eschel. He's my cousin, and also the doctor for my daughters and I. He knows all about our special 'condition.'"

"Well, considering that I have it too, why wouldn't I know about it?" Frank joked.

"What do you mean, 'special condition'?" Alexander asked.

"I'll explain in a minute. Let's just get these two into some beds, first."

They entered a room with two hospital beds in it. Andrew and Misty were placed on the beds. Afterwards, Alexander recalled Gardevoir and Metagross.

"Have you told any of them about it, Rose?" Frank asked.

"No, I haven't."

"Very well then. I'll tell you all about it once they come to. When did they fall unconscious?"

"About an hour ago," Rose said.

"Okay then. They'll probably wake up within the next few minutes."

A few minutes passed before Andrew began to stir. Groaning, he opened his eyes and said, "Where am I? Where's Misty?"

"She's in the bed beside you, Andrew," Rose said.

Andrew looked over at Misty, who was also just beginning to awaken.

"You'll both be fine in a few minutes," Frank said.

"Doctor Eschel?" Misty asked meekly. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it is, Misty. Just sit tight and let your energy build up."

After a minute, Andrew asked, "What's going on? Where are we?"

"Yeah," Misty said, "what is going on, anyway?"

"Andrew, you're at Doctor Frank Eschel's hospital, near Saffron."

Andrew sat up in the bed, exhausted.

"Okay, let me explain to you what's going on," Frank began. "You're both here because of some 'actions' you had partaken in last night, am I correct?"

Misty blushed, as Rose said, "Yes."

"Good. What's happened is that your body chemistry—your very genetic data—has had a small facet of itself unlocked."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

"Well, you, your sisters, your mother, your grandmother, and several other females down the Waterflower bloodline have all been born with a very unique genetic mutation."

"What's so unique about it?" Rebecca asked.

"It's unique in that, triggered by hormones released during intercourse, causes the body to stop its natural aging process."

"What do you mean, doc?" Andrew asked.

"Well, in short, it means that the body will never grow old, and thus, never expire. It also has a few side effects, notably causing a significant boost to the immune system, rendering the body immune to about ninety-five percent of all diseases and virii."

"What?" Misty asked, confused.

"It means that that, from now on, you won't fall ill or age at all."

"Does that mean she's going to live forever?" Alexander asked.

"In theory, yes."

Misty quickly sat up in the bed, and shouted, "what?!"

"Like I said, it's only in theory. Please, allow me to continue."

Misty lied back down in the bed, and said, "okay."

"Now, I don't know if the body will actually expire or not, but so far, nobody with this mutation has yet to die. I've done much research in this, and I can only come to the conclusion that we humans are steadily gaining more and more traits of Pokémon. Within the past five hundred years, humankind has evolved to gain the first of possibly many traits: extreme durability. Before that, the human body was a frail thing, and injuries came about so easily. During those times, Pokémon training was extremely dangerous, as a stray attack could easily injure or kill an unsuspecting trainer. Now, all that a stray attack amounts to is a temporary stun or perhaps a day in the hospital."

"Interesting," Andrew said, "But what's this mutation got to do with me?"

"Well, as it is, the mutation only naturally occurs in females. However, when it is triggered, the mutation is passed, almost in a disease-like fashion, to the partner. That's how I got it, and now, that's how you have it too, Andrew."

Andrew looked down at his hands. "So," he said slowly. "I'm not going to grow old? I'll be like this forever?"

"Yes. But again, I don't know if our natural lifespan has an end or not."

"Well, how old are you, then?" Rebecca asked.

"Currently, I'm about one hundred and fifty."

Rebecca's eyes bulged, and she gasped.

"Also, there's a variety of other somewhat insignificant things that occur as a result of this mutation. For some reason or another, hair doesn't grow at all. Whatever hair you currently have will stay as it is. For females, it means that they have no body hair whatsoever. However, the hair on their scalp and eyebrows will grow for a few years before stopping; I don't know why."

"I guess that explains why my hair's been shoulder-length for so many years," Misty said.

"Yes. Since I've had ample time to research, I also developed a formula for stimulating hair growth."

"So you're the one who developed that crazy shampoo that caused Misty's hair to grow so long so quickly?" Andrew asked.

"Yes. Originally, however, it wasn't a shampoo. Rose asked me to make a shampoo out of the formula, since her hair was short, and she desired the long hair she has now. It only works with the mutation though. I tested it on ordinary people, and it had absolutely no effect whatsoever."

"So, Doctor Eschel, is this—the whole fainting thing—going to happen every time?" Misty asked.

"No, thankfully, it won't. It only occurs when the mutation triggers."

"That's good to hear."

"I've got a question," Andrew said. "This morning, before I passed out, my Gardevoir was able to communicate with me psychically, when before that, she hadn't. Could this possibly be another side-effect of the mutation?"

Frank thought for a moment, and said, "No, I don't recall that being an aspect of the mutation. I have two psychic Pokémon myself, and neither one of them are able to communicate with me psychically. I don't even think Sabrina of the Saffron Gym is even psychically adept enough to actually be talked to by her Pokémon."

"Hmm," Andrew uttered. "Maybe there's something else with me that I don't know about."

Rose whispered to Frank, "You forgot to tell them about children."

"Oh yes," Frank said, "thanks for reminding me, Rose. From what has been found out so far, the genetic mutation also causes all offspring to be female. It's probably nature's way of attempting to make as many hosts as possible. Even if a male descendant was produced, we can't be certain if they'll carry the mutation."

"So," Rose began, "If ever the time comes that you want to have children, Misty, you'll only be able to produce daughters."

"But," Andrew said, "I thought it was the male that determined the gender of the child."

"It is," Frank said, "but all I can guess is that either the mutation renders you unable to produce the proper chromosomes for a male, or the egg will not accept male-producing chromosomes. As it stands, that's one of the things I have yet to determine."

"What does modern science say about all this?" Alexander asked.

"Modern science isn't yet ready to accept this," Frank said. "I've tried presenting my reports to the scientific community at large, but they don't believe it yet."

"Maybe, a few generations down the road, they'll see what's going on. I suppose that the mutation just isn't widespread enough."

"Perhaps, Alexander, but I just can't for the life of me figure out what they really want before they'll start to understand."

"Only time will tell."

"Well, I do believe that that's all I needed to say about that. Misty, I'd like to collect a sample of your blood. I want to compare it to other samples of the mutation to watch for changes. I would also like to have a sample of your blood too, Andrew."

Andrew and Misty nodded, as Rose led Rebecca and Alexander out of the room. Frank also left the room, and returned a short while later with two syringes. As Frank collected samples of Andrew and Misty's blood, he asked, "So Andrew, I know this sounds relatively unprofessional, but would you consider switching your primary physician to me? Whoever your regular doctor is, I doubt he'd understand your mutation, and the things that have changed with your genetic structure."

"Well Doctor Eschel," Andrew said, "I never really had a primary doctor to begin with, but I can have all of my medical records transferred over to you from Cerulean. Besides, even if I did have a primary doctor, given this mutation now, I would wind up out-living him anyway."

"Very true. I can call and have the medical records transferred over to my offices after we're done here. And please, call me Frank."

"Not a problem. Thanks."

Frank finished the blood collection, and said, "Well, I suppose you two can be on your way now."

"All right. Thanks, Frank," Misty said.

As they walked out of the office, the receptionist collected Andrew's personal information. After Andrew finished filling out the information form, Misty said to the receptionist, "I'd like to update my contact information, since I'm moving to a new home shortly."

The receptionist pulled a different form out of the desk, and gave it to Misty, who quickly filled it out and returned it. Rebecca, Alexander, and rose were waiting outside.

"I don't really know what to make of all this," Rose said.

"It's okay, mom," Andrew said, "I don't really know either."

They all stepped into the SUV, and Rose drove back to Andrew's house. After they arrived, they all entered the house. Andrew went over to the phone, and found that he had several messages waiting on the answering machine.

After listening to the messages, he found that they were mostly from hotels and conference halls, all requesting his presence for the conference he had planned for June 8th. He thought about where would be best to hold the conference, and called back to the Richburg hotel, following Lorelei's suggestion.

"Okay, that settles it," Andrew said, walking back into the living room area, "That press conference for the eighth is going to be at the Richburg hotel in Viridian."

"Wasn't that the hotel that Lorelei recommended?" Misty asked.

"Yes, it is. There were a bunch of different places asking for me to hold my conference there, but the Richburg had the least amount of seating space. I assume that reporters are going to have to clamor for the seats. But at least it'll be less reporters I'll have to deal with."

Alexander chuckled, and said, "You really _don't_ like reporters, do you?"

"No, not really," Andrew said flatly. "They're too persistent, and I hate that."

"Well, I'm going to get going," Rose said. "The day's starting to carry on, and I've got to talk to Lorelei about getting my things moved up to Cerulean. At least the weather outside's cleared up."

Misty gave Rose a hug as she said her farewells. Rose walked out of the house, and Alexander said, "Well, there's still a few things of Becky's here that we want to move out. Her old bed and dresser are going into the guest room, and the office furniture needs to be moved out."

"By all means, dad," Andrew said, "please allow me to give you a hand with moving it out to the truck."

"Well, I was going to have Metagross move it."

"Ah, don't be so lazy. It's good exercise. Besides, it gives me an excuse to see your new place."

"Oh, all right then."

Andrew and Alexander began hauling various pieces of furniture down the stairs and outside to the truck. They managed to fit all parts of the bed, a thin bookshelf, and the dresser onto the truck. After it was all strapped down, Andrew said to Alexander, "I'll drive this all down; you guys lead the way."

Alexander nodded, and he and Rebecca entered Rebecca's car. Andrew and Misty climbed into the truck. They drove down to the house in Fuchsia, over two hours away. They unloaded the furniture, placing it all in the guest room. They managed to fit the rest of the furniture on the truck, and made another trip back down.

After Andrew and Misty had returned from the second trip, Andrew sat down heavily on the sofa. "Well," he said, "All that lifting was a fairly decent workout."

Misty sat as well. Stretching as she sat, she said, "Yeah, but I'm tired. Let's get ready for bed."

Andrew nodded, saying, "We should. It's getting late."

They went upstairs, and into the bathroom. As they bathed, Misty struggled with washing her hair. "I'm not used to having such long hair yet," she said, trying to reach her arms behind her and down her hair.

"Please, allow me," Andrew said as he sat behind her, running shampoo down the length of her hair. "I bet all this hair is really heavy when it's wet."

"It is."

"Ah well, you'll get used to it. I personally think such long hair is gorgeous on you."

Andrew finished washing Misty's hair, and held her from behind.

"Oh, now you're just getting shampoo all over yourself," Misty said.

"So? It's all going to get rinsed off anyway."

As such, they rinsed off, and relaxed in the tub for a few minutes. They stepped out, and dried themselves off. Misty ran a brush through her hair to dry it out a bit, as Andrew looked at the yukata hanging on the wall.

"I wonder if these things will be of any more use now," he said.

"Only if we've got guests over."

"You've got a point there."

Misty finished brushing her hair, and she and Andrew walked towards the bedroom. After they had both lied down, Andrew said, "I love you, Misty."

"And I love you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, dear."

They kissed and fell asleep.


	13. Battle Preparations

**Chapter 13: Battle Preparations**

Over the course of the next week, Andrew busied himself with various tasks. Misty's belongings were moved to the house and set up. Rebecca transferred the deed to the household to Andrew. He helped Rose move her belongings off of Lorelei's yacht and up to Misty's old home. He contacted various news agencies, informing them of the time and location of the press conference. He fended off occasional unwanted visitors to his house. He booked the cruise on the St. Anne for after he challenged the Elite Four.

Andrew stood with Misty in Rebecca's old office. "I think this could be useful as a study," he said. He began mentally placing various bookshelves throughout the room, in addition to a table, chairs, and a desk.

"I was thinking of perhaps a bookshelf in this corner here," Andrew said to Misty, blocking out the general area with his hands. He roamed around the room as he continued, "over here, I could put a desk, looking out the window towards Mount Moon. A small, round table, perhaps with a light on it, could go here. A couple of padded armchairs would go well around it."

"Actually," Misty said, "I think the table might be better over in this corner."

Andrew pictured a table where Misty pointed to, nodded, and said, "Yeah, you're right. It would go better over there. I could throw some plants in this corner, then."

Together, Andrew and Misty flushed out the layout details of the study, and moved on to Rebecca's old bedroom. "As for this room," Andrew said, "I have no idea what I want done with it."

"Ah!" Misty exclaimed, "Perhaps you could put some exercise equipment in it."

"Yeah," Andrew said, rubbing his chin in thought. "I suppose we could throw some equipment in here." He snapped his fingers, and said, "Or we could turn it into a game room. Maybe have room for some billiards here, and darts over there."

"How about a bit of both?" Misty asked.

Andrew tried to envision the best way to combine the fitness equipment and the pool table. "It could work," he said. "What kind of fitness equipment did you have in mind?"

"Probably one of those multi-workout machines, and a treadmill."

"Well, I'm not too keen on having a treadmill, since we could just go outside and walk, though how about a punching bag instead?"

"What would you need a punching bag for?"

Andrew flexed his arm, and said, "It always helps when you're able to throw a decent punch when you need to."

"Thinking with your bicep, I see."

"Would you rather I go outside and punch trees?"

"I see your point."

They agreed on the odd combination of a workout room and lounge, and walked back into the main area of the house. Andrew looked at the clock, and said, "Well, that conference is drawing nearer. We had best get ready."

"All right."

They showered, and got dressed for the conference. Andrew put on his business suit. Misty wore a blouse and skirt.

"You look like you're ready to apply for an office job," Andrew joked.

"And you look like you've already gotten that office job."

They laughed, and went to the car. As Andrew drove towards Viridian City, he said, "I wonder what kinds of questions I'll be bombarded with."

"I don't know, but I have a feeling they're going to try and pry into our personal lives."

"I don't think they will. I _know_ they will."

They arrived at the Richburg hotel, and entered the lobby. There, Andrew greeted his "associates": Rebecca, Rose, Alexander, and Professor Oak.

"You know, honey," Rebecca said, "I haven't worn any office suits in years. I sort of miss the feeling."

"I quite frankly don't like it," Andrew replied. "It's just not what I'm used to wearing."

Alexander checked his watch. "The press conference is going to begin soon."

They were greeted by a member of the staff, who asked, "Are you and your party ready, mister Masako?"

"Yes, we're ready."

"Please, follow me then."

They were led into a back room behind the hotel's conference hall, and directed towards the speaking platform. As Andrew walked out with everyone in toe, several flashbulbs from reporters' cameras blinded him. Andrew stepped up to the podium, with over half a dozen microphones sticking out of it. Misty, Rebecca, Alexander, Rose, and Professor Oak sat down on chairs behind him.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming," Andrew said into the microphones. "Since I've arranged this conference for the purpose of allowing you—the reporters—to ask me questions, I won't waste your time with any long introductory speeches. Besides, I'm a trainer, not a public speaker. The first question, please."

Several reporters quietly raised numbered markers.

"We'll start with number forty-two."

The reporter holding the 42 marker stood, and asked, "Mister Masako, what is your opinion on the Elites themselves?"

"Well, I've only personally met two of them, but from what I can gather, they're ordinary people, just like you and I. They just live their lives, pursuing their goals, and appreciating what they have, and have achieved. Next question, please."

Andrew picked the next reporter, who asked, "What do you plan on doing after the Elite Four Competition?"

"I'm going to relax. I have time set aside so that I can sit back in peace and reflect upon what I've learned by battling the Elites."

"Mister Masako, roughly how many hours a day do you spend training your Pokémon?"

"I don't train them daily, but if I were to put an average on it, I'd say my average training session is approximately two to three hours. I usually train them every two days."

"Mister Masako, when you do train your Pokémon, what is your training style?"

"I start off by ordering attacks back and forth between two Pokémon, commanding one attack back and forth in rapid succession. After that, I give them a short while to rest, then have them battle in two one-on-one battles."

"What do you do when you aren't training?"

"Usually, I just spend time with friends and family, or drive around a bit. Sometimes, I observe battles at the Cerulean Gym, and offer advice to young trainers passing through the Cerulean Gym."

"What are some of your hobbies?"

"I enjoy doing many things. Some of my favorites include driving, walking, reading, billiards, bowling, drawing, and writing. Of course, I can't help but label Pokémon training as my biggest hobby."

"What expectations do you have for your battles against the Elite Four?"

"I don't hold expectations for my battles. If I win, I win. If I lose, well, I lose. That's really all there is to it. It makes my life more pleasant on the whole."

"What usually runs through your mind when you're in a battle?"

"I keep my mind focused on the battle. I focus my concentration most on what my opponent is doing, and strategize based on several factors."

"Mister Masako, in response to your previous statement, what are those factors?"

"Well, I sum up the abilities of my opponent's Pokémon, like its speed and reflex time. Based on the opponent's Pokémon's abilities, I determine the probability of the success of various possible counterattacks, and the most likely route the opponent's Pokémon is going to move in. I also factor that in with the most recent command given to the Pokémon, and attempt to second-guess its likely course of action and delay in executing their trainer's command."

"When was the last time you actually have lost a battle?"

"Quite honestly, I don't really remember. I don't track my losses, nor my victories."

The questions continued to pour in for some time, before Andrew called on a reporter that was more ambitious about his private life.

"Mister Masako, rumors have been flying around about a secret relationship between you and Miss Waterflower. Are these rumors true?"

Andrew gulped, and hesitated for a moment, before saying, "Well, that all depends on the scope of time you're dealing with. Approximately two weeks ago, Miss Waterflower and I have indeed been in a close personal relationship, but not before. Please, I ask that there be no more questions on this matter."

For the next hour and a half, reporters continued asking questions about Andrew's battling methods, Pokémon, and future battling plans. Eventually, another reporter attempted to sneak in another question about his private life.

"What plans do you have as far as you and Miss Waterflower are concerned?"

Andrew grew red in the face, and trying to keep his voice calm, said, "I asked some time ago to not attempt to pry into my personal affairs. If I wanted to tell you about my private life, I would have." He glanced at a clock, and noticed that the conference time was drawing to a close. "I'll take one more question before the conference ends."

A few reporters raised their markers, wanting to get their question in last. Andrew picked number 42 again.

"Mister Masako, what would you say your biggest inspiration for continuing to battle is?"

"Well, my biggest inspiration would probably be those new trainers out there. The ones that want someone to look up to, and someone who will give them valuable advice that they can use to better themselves. I do my best to be that someone."

Andrew took a deep breath, and sipped from a glass of water sitting on the podium. "I'd like to thank you all for attending. It's been a pleasure answering your questions. I hope that the information I've shared with you will prove some use to trainers out there. Have a good evening."

Andrew walked away from the podium as another flurry of camera flashes blinded him. The conference hall quickly filled with the noise of idle chatter amongst the reporters. Misty, Rebecca, Alexander, Rose, and Professor Oak followed Andrew into the back room of the conference hall.

"Wow, honey," Rebecca started, "you got pretty red on that one question there."

"What did you expect? Judging by the way his tone of voice when he asked that question, I'd say he was hoping that I'd forgotten about what I said before that about them trying to pry into my private affairs."

"Either that, or he forgot that you asked them to keep their mouths shut about your private life," Alexander said.

"Well," Misty said, wrapping her arms around Andrew, "I'd say you handled that very well. I probably would have snapped at the first question."

Andrew smiled, and gave Misty a short kiss. Through his eyelids, Andrew noticed a flash from a camera. He quickly whipped his head in the direction the flash came from, rage in his eyes. However, he quickly calmed down when he saw that it was Lorelei.

"Maybe I should have asked you to say 'cheese' first?" Lorelei joked.

Andrew sighed, and said, "For a second there, I thought you were an overly nosy reporter. I almost exploded on you, and that wouldn't have been fun at all."

"I agree. It wouldn't have been fun. That look you gave me at first would have stricken fear into even the bravest reporter's heart."

"So, what brings you here, anyway?" Misty asked, still holding onto Andrew.

"I came to watch the conference. I see you took my advice on the Richburg hotel."

"Well, it wasn't just your advice," Andrew said, "It was also the fact that they had the smallest seating capacity of all the places that called me."

Lorelei laughed heartily, and said, "That's why I hold my conferences here. It's harder for the dodgy tabloid reporters to get in."

"I suppose it was quite sound advice, then," Andrew joked.

"So, I see that you're not too keen on people asking you about your private life," Lorelei said.

"Yeah. It's none of their business, and I, quite frankly, can't stand it when people try putting their noses into things they shouldn't be poking around in."

"I can understand that. Unfortunately, you're going to find that things like that occur a lot. It's just a part of being famous."

"Perhaps I should have issued a warning to the paparazzi, then, 'cause I would _love_ to knock all of 'em cold."

"Believe me, I would too. If I see any, I chase them down and take their film."

Andrew laughed, and said, "That's actually a good idea. How do they usually react?"

"They're usually just saddened that they lost their prime shots. I just tell them that they shouldn't have been taking candid photos anyway."

"Yeah."

"Well, I just stopped by to let you know that I think you handled that fairly well. Was that your first conference?"

"I'd been interviewed before, but yes, this is my first conference. It really just felt like a massive interview."

"If you really think about it, that's all it really is."

"I suppose."

Lorelei looked at her watch. "Well," she started, "I'm going to head out. Hopefully, I'll get back to Vermilion before night falls. I'll see you in two weeks, then."

"I look forward to it."

"So do the rest of the Elites, trust me."

After Lorelei had left the room, Professor Oak said, "so Andrew, what _do_ you really expect from your battles?"

"Not much, really. I should be able to kick down Lorelei's ice types with Charizard, beat down Bruno's rock and fighting types with Starmie, plow through Agatha's ghosts with Gardevoir, and take down Lance's dragons with some ice attacks and general bashing from Nidoking."

"I see. Let's just hope they don't have any aces up their sleeves."

"Even if they do, I still have my other three Pokémon as backup in all four battles, so I'm not worried about it."

"You have a point there."

"Quite frankly, though, I sometimes think I'm _too_ strong of a trainer."

"Why do you say that?"

"Just look at my Pokémon. They're all ridiculously high-leveled. That last trainer I fought at the Indigo League apparently trained his Pokémon daily, for the past ten years, and he was a pushover. Same with those two at the Bay Competition two weeks ago. They must have been at least thirty-five."

"Well, I personally believe that absolute daily training is a bit counter-intuitive. During training, their muscles actually tear apart slightly, and new muscle grows in. That's how they build muscle mass. If you train them every day, it doesn't give their muscles enough time to grow in before tearing again."

"I know this, but from what I've seen, that really only applies to people. Pokémon heal quite quickly on their own, not to mention assistance from the Pokémon Center."

"Yes, but the Pokémon Center's treatments don't quicken the building of new muscle; it still must grow in over time. Although I must say, it seems to be a very beneficial aspect in training."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, the Pokémon Center's devices only really restore a Pokémon's energy. In the rare event that a Pokémon actually gets injured, it still takes time to recover. The boost in energy, however, seems to stimulate a Pokémon's muscles to grow stronger than if they were left to grow naturally."

"I suppose it might also be the fact that my Pokémon are all unique. They're simply stronger than normal."

"Yes, but not to such a severe degree. Most wild uniquely-colored Pokémon that I've seen trainers bring to me are really only about ten percent stronger than their regular equivalents."

"And what about Nidoking?"

"Well, that's hard to say, since I don't know how strong it was when it was a wild Nidoran, in comparison to the strength of a regular Nidoran."

"Well, it sure was strong enough to beat my water Pokémon, back when I was a Gym Leader," Rose said.

"And that was while Nidoran was still a pet," Andrew said, "I hadn't trained it at all before then."

"Well, if I were to venture a guess, then, I'd probably say it was about five hundred percent stronger than a regular wild Nidoran. But that's hardly a proper estimate, since I haven't been able to run any tests whatsoever on it before you started training it."

"Oh well. That's just the way things are, sometimes."

"Indeed. Well, I've got to get back to the lab. I've got an interesting study of Pokémon diet that I've been a bit wrapped up in, and I want to get back to working on it."

"No problem. Take care, professor."

"You too, Andrew."

"I suppose we'll be heading out, too," Rebecca said.

After bidding their farewells, Rebecca, Alexander, and Professor Oak left.

"Would you like to come back to my place and chat for a while?" Rose asked.

"Gladly," Misty said. "I've been getting a bit homesick."

"Considering that you were over at my place half the time anyway, I'm surprised that you miss your old house," Andrew joked.

"Oh, it's not like I'm going to go crazy by not being there," Misty said. "It's just that, every now and then, I appreciated my old room."

"Well," Rose said, "maybe it's just that the changes came at you faster than you'd expected?"

"That's possible," Misty said, "but I'm not sure."

"Well," Andrew said, "let's head out. I don't really feel like being in this hotel any longer."

Andrew, Misty, and Rose left the hotel. An hour and a half later, they had arrived back in Cerulean.

"Hey girls, I'm back!" Rose shouted to the house.

"Wow, like, that took you a while," Daisy said.

"Well, it was a three-hour conference, and the trip takes an hour and a half to get to Viridian anyway."

"Okay, okay," Daisy said, holding her hands up defensively. "You don't, like, need to get into detail about it."

Lily and Violet had by this time come from wherever they were at to the door. Violet greeted Rose's "companions".

"Oh, like hi guys!" Violet said as she noticed Andrew and Misty tagging along.

"Rose asked about coming to chat for a while." Andrew said.

"Oh, like, okay."

They all sat in the living room, and Lily said, "I was watching your press conference on TV. I saw how worked up you got right at the end. I gotta' say that you really managed to keep your cool."

"Yeah, that question really aggravated me. I told them not to try and pry into my life, yet it's like they don't want to listen or something."

"Yeah," Rose added, "We pretty much all said the same thing backstage afterwards."

"You should've been there when Lorelei showed up from out of nowhere and snapped a picture," Andrew said.

Andrew felt his Pokéballs shaking. He looked down and saw that Gardevoir's ball was rustling around madly. He released Gardevoir, who looked at him and chirped.

"Hmm," Andrew said. "Apparently, someone is approaching the door, and Gardevoir senses that this person's rather… undesirable, as she put it."

"Like, what are you talking about?" Daisy asked, confused.

Just then, someone knocked at the door. Rose got up to answer it. After opening the door, she dropped the mug she was carrying when she saw who it was.

"What the… Paul?!" Rose asked, gasping slightly. "What in the world are you doing here? And why?"

"What?" Paul asked. "A deadbeat father doesn't have the right to see his kids after he's gone and straightened himself out?"

"Quite frankly, no. Misty, _your_ fourth child, has never once seen your face. You ran out on her, saying you 'couldn't handle the strain of a fourth child', as you so eloquently put it."

"But come on, Rosie, I've realized that my life is in shambles, and have been progressively reaching out to more and more people."

"And when did you suddenly come to this grand realization?"

"A couple days back."

Rose sighed. "Whatever, just come in."

Paul greeted his daughters, but none of them were very interested in seeing him, especially Misty.

"What's the matter, Misty? Aren't you happy to see your father?"

Misty shrugged away and uttered a "Hmph!" "I've gone through nineteen years of my life with no father, why should I suddenly love and respect you when you're practically a complete stranger to me."

"Well, I know that. But after realizing what I'd been doing wrong all these years, I've decided to take steps to try to heal the wound."

"So," Daisy said. "Like, what _have_ you been up to the past twenty years, anyway?"

"Oh, I've been doing lots of things. Unfortunately, they're all the wrong things to be doing."

Andrew leaned over to Misty and whispered, "I smell alcohol on his breath."

"So, like," Violet said, "What made you decide to come back?"

"Well, like I said, I'm trying to straighten myself out."

"I have a feeling I know why he's back," Misty said grumpily.

"Well, please explain," Paul said in an annoyed tone.

"Well," Misty said, "I think you're back because my boyfriend is famous."

"What? No, that's not it at all!"

"Your tone of voice says otherwise."

Paul stood up and began to argue with Misty. She stood up as she argued back. Eventually, Paul drew back his arm, as he muttered, "Why you insolent little…" As Paul swung to hit Misty, his arm was abruptly stopped by Andrew, who stared Paul straight in the eye and said, "Don't you even dare."

"What? Are you gonna' do something about it?"

"I don't like to fight by my hands."

"Are you afraid that you'll get hurt?"

"Oh, I'm no stranger to pain. I'm just rather pacifist, despite being a ruthless Pokémon battler. But don't tempt me. I won't let anyone harm Misty and get away with it."

"Is that so? Even still, as her father, I think it's proper to scold my daughter for being such a brat."

"You call yourself a father?"

"Why you…!"

Paul drew back and threw a punch towards Andrew, who barely flinched.

"What, you call that a punch? Allow me to show you a real one."

Andrew quickly punched Paul in the side of jaw. He flew back, and stumbled over the coffee table.

"No! Don't fight in here!" Rose said.

"Fine then, we'll take it outside." Paul said as he got back up. "That is, unless little pacifist boy doesn't want to."

"You little fool." Andrew said, "Now you've gone and gotten me all worked up. Fine then, we _will_ take this outside."

They walked out of the house. Rose, Misty, and the others walked outside to watch. They even went so far as to cheer Andrew on.

"Come on little pacifist boy!"

Paul began to throw punches, which Andrew dodged with ease.

"What's the matter? Afraid to throw a punch?"

"No, I just think that this isn't a fair fight."

"What's the matter? You afraid?"

Andrew sighed, still dodging punches, and said, "Fine. Let me demonstrate why it isn't fair."

Andrew quickly punched Paul in the stomach, and then elbowed Paul's head as he bent over. Paul stood up, and grabbed Andrew's arm. He pulled and threw Andrew over top of him. Andrew kicked Paul's head as he flew over, then flipped and landed on his feet.

"Oh, that's it!" Paul shouted as he grabbed a Pokéball off his belt. "Hitmontop, kick his ass!"

He threw the ball, and as Hitmontop appeared, Paul shouted, "Get him with a triple kick!"

Hitmontop quickly spun to deliver the triple kick. As it moved closer, Andrew jumped up on its feet and stepped to keep himself on top."

"You know," Andrew said calmly, "This Hitmontop of yours is _really_ slow! You should have trained it more."

Hitmontop suddenly stopped spinning. Andrew quickly back flipped off.

"You know, I don't really approve of fighting Pokémon directly."

"Good, then you're bound to lose! Hitmontop, give him a kick to the side!"

Hitmontop leapt towards Andrew, but he caught its foot, spun, and threw it to the ground. It got back up and began to fight him on its own. After a short while, Andrew said, "Enough with this."

Hitmontop spun towards Andrew in another triple kick, and Andrew again jumped on top of it. After it stopped spinning, Andrew jumped off and then kicked it in the face. He quickly ran up to the Hitmontop and pinned it. "You're bound to lose," Andrew said to the Hitmontop. "So you might as well not even try. Besides, your trainer's a scumbag."

Paul returned Hitmontop as Andrew pinned it down. He stood, and said to Paul, "Get out of here, now! I don't ever want to see your face, or even so much as hear of your presence around here. And if you aren't willing to leave peacefully, I'll force you to leave."

"Then try and make me."

Andrew ran up and punched Paul in the face. As Paul flinched back, Andrew grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. Paul stood, refusing to give up, and threw a punch. Andrew grabbed his arm, and punched him in the stomach. He then hit Paul in the face with his knee.

"Alright, alright!" Paul said, stumbling back. "I give. I'll leave."

As Paul walked away, checking his nose for blood, Andrew muttered, "I have a feeling he'll be back," as he cracked his knuckles.

The girls were stunned. As Andrew turned back to them, he noticed the looks on their faces.

"What?" Andrew asked, shrugging his shoulders modestly.

"What," Rose replied, "You gave my ex-husband what he deserved, that's what!"

Daisy, Violet, Lily, and Misty laughed.

"I will say this though," Andrew said in a serious tone as he looked out of the corner of his eye towards Paul, "I have a feeling he'll be back. Maybe Gardevoir will know.

When they went inside, Andrew released his Gardevoir. As Andrew looked down at Gardevoir, he said, "Gardevoir, I have a feeling that Paul will return. Do you know when?"

Gardevoir put her arms up to her head and closed her eyes. After a moment, she began to chirp, her arms still up to her head.

"She says that he's very angry. He wants revenge," Andrew said.

Gardevoir chirped again.

"She's starting to struggle with looking that far, but from what she can tell, he'll be back tonight."

Gardevoir continued concentrating, and then quickly snapped out of her trance. She hastily chirped.

"What?!" Andrew shouted.

Gardevoir continued to chirp hastily.

"What's she saying, Andrew?" Misty asked, worried.

Andrew became angry, growing red in the face.

"What did Gardevoir say?" Rose asked.

"Gardevoir says he's coming back. He's currently headed to the Pokémon Center, and he's going to find out where I live."

"And then what?" Misty asked, becoming even more worried.

"And then he's coming back here tonight with a very malicious intent."

"You don't mean," Rose asked, trailing off.

"Yes. After that, he's going to my house to finish me off as well."

Misty gasped. "What are we going to do?"

"It'll all be very simple. Rose, later on, would you please alert the police?"

"I'll go do it right now."

"No, wait. Don't do it just yet. I want him caught red-handed; it'll make for a heavier sentence."

"I see. So what are we going to do, then?"

"Misty and I will stay here tonight. Just do as I say, and we'll be fine."


	14. Viscious Visitor

**Chapter 14: Vicious Visitor**

Andrew and Misty were ducked on the floor in the dark living room, behind a sofa. Rose was ducked in a dark corner behind the television. Daisy, Violet, and Lily were ducked around various corners. Standing behind the coat rack was Officer Jenny of the Cerulean City Police Department.

Gardevoir laid on the floor near Andrew and Misty, and very quietly chirped.

"All right," Andrew whispered to the rest of the room, "He'll be here shortly. I'll quickly stun him. Officer Jenny—"

Officer Jenny muttered to show she was paying attention.

"Once he's stunned, you go in for the arrest."

"All right."

Gardevoir chirped again.

"All right," Andrew whispered to Misty, "I'm gonna' duck around the couch now."

"Be careful!" Misty whispered back.

Andrew moved to the end of the couch, and ducked behind a corner just behind the coat racks. He held himself up against the wall as the doorknob began to rattle.

"_Okay, here he comes,_" Andrew thought.

Eventually, the lock was picked, and the Paul opened the door. Brandishing a knife in his hand, he carried an insane grin as he looked around the dark room, sweating.

"Okay you little bitches," Paul muttered to himself, "It's time to meet your maker!"

Andrew began to shift away from the corner. As he charged up to Paul, he shouted, "Not if I have anything to do with it!"

Surprised, Paul looked over to see Andrew charging at him, his fist winding back. A moment later, that punch immediately threw Paul to the ground, his knife bouncing out of the door. As Paul lied on the ground, Andrew sat down over top of his arms to prevent him from moving.

"You shouldn't have messed with me," Andrew said calmly.

"How did you know I was going to be here?" Paul asked angrily.

"I have a powerful psychic Pokémon. That, and I have a bit of a sixth sense myself."

Andrew grabbed Paul by the hair, and said, "So tell me what you were planning to do here. That is, if you're not too drunk to talk straight."

"I was coming here out of spite. I came to kill all of you pricks!"

"Is that so?" Andrew asked.

"Oh yeah. Once I cleaned up here, I was gonna' go and kill you next!"

"Well then, I suppose the courts are going to like that information," Andrew said, pulling a tape recorder out of his pocket. "All right, Officer Jenny, you can take it from here."

Officer Jenny emerged from the coat rack, brandishing a pair of handcuffs. Andrew stood as Paul was handcuffed.

"You have the right to remain silent," Officer Jenny said, "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Paul bowed his head and said to himself, "I can't believe this."

As Officer Jenny continued to read Paul his rights, the others emerged from their hiding places.

"What? You were all here?"

"Of course," Rose said.

Paul sighed. "Well, I suppose this is it for me then."

Officer Jenny began to pull Paul out of the door. He turned back and said with a sad expression on his face, "I guess, then, you aren't a pansy. I suppose you're fit for my daughter."

Officer Jenny closed the door on Paul. As soon as the door was closed, Andrew said, "That was _the_ most fake look I've ever seen."

"Like, tell me about it," Daisy said.

"Well, now that that's over with," Rose said, trailing off.

"I suppose we should get some sleep," Misty said.

"Yeah, that's probably best right now. At least we'll all be able to sleep easy knowing he's gone!"

Everyone laughed. They all went to bed, Andrew and Misty sleeping on a fold-out bed in the living room. The police department stationed four officers to guard the house that night.

The next day, they were requested to go to the police department to file a testimony of the previous night's occurrences. It was explained to them that the testimonies were needed to reaffirm Officer Jenny's statement, and add on what occurred earlier that day.

"So, when's the court date, Officer Jenny?" Andrew asked.

"You don't need to worry about it." Officer Jenny replied. "You won't need to show up, unless you want to watch him being sentenced."

"Oh, I do!" Rose said, raising her hand. "I want to watch him get what he deserves."

After Rose got the trial date, they all went up to Andrew's house. They all sat down on the couches and talked for a while.

"So," Rose said after some time in the conversation, "Are you ready for the Elite Four? Two weeks pass sooner than you think, Andrew."

"I'm not worried about it at all. I wasn't worried about it when I signed up, I'm not worried about it now, and I'm certain I won't be worrying about it the day before."

"We'll see," Rose said.

The day before the Elite Four competition, Andrew stood in front of the Pokémon League Stadium, carrying some luggage. He breathed in the warm summer air, and looking up at a couple of puffy clouds in the sky, and said, "I feel so good right now. I'm also very excited to see what will become of my battles in the next four days."

"Yeah, I definitely can't wait to see this!" Rose said.

"I'm sure you'll do great, dear," Misty said. She gave him a long kiss. Rose rolled her eyes, and said, "Oh, get a room, you two!"

Andrew looked down at his watch, and said, "Yeah, we might as well go do that now."

They all went to the hotel they had reserved, and dropped their luggage off in their rooms. Rose walked over to Andrew and Misty's room, and said, "Okay, I'm gonna' go find Becky now."

"All right, mom," Misty said.

Rose shut the door as she walked out of the room. Andrew looked over at Misty, smiled, and said calmly, "Now, what was that about doing great, honey?"

Misty giggled, and kissed him again. He put his hands at her waist, rubbing her sides. Just then, the door opened as Rose, Rebecca, and Alexander entered the room.

"Uh, perhaps we came at a bad time?" Rose asked.

"Eh, heh, no, it's fine," Andrew said.

"They're all over each other," Alexander whispered to Rebecca.

"It sort of reminds me of how we were," Rebecca replied.

"That it does."

"So, mom, has Professor Oak showed up, yet?" Andrew asked.

"No, he hasn't. He'll probably be here soon."

"I suppose I'll run around and see who's arrived."

"I'll go with him," Misty added.

"Very well, then. I'll see ya when you get back," Rose said.


	15. Masako versus the Elite Four

**Chapter 15: Masako versus the Elite Four**

Andrew faced the mirror. He gently adjusted the collar of his new coat, which was made just for the occasion.

"This is going to be _very_ entertaining," Andrew said.

"I agree," Misty said as she leaned in to check her earrings in the mirror.

Someone knocked at the door. "Oh, that must be them!" Misty exclaimed as she went to open the door. It was Daisy.

"You ready to go, sis?" Daisy asked.

"Go where?" Andrew asked.

"Oh, I'm just going to get some makeup put on," Misty replied. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"All right then."

Misty left with Daisy. "I'm surprised that she's going through the bother of primping herself up just to look good at my Elite battles. Then again, I suppose it's a good thing that she's going out of her way to look as best she can."

Andrew ran his fingers through his hair as he continued to talk to his reflection.

"I wonder, though. Is she going out of her way because of her camera-shyness, or is she doing it for me? I told her that she doesn't need to look absolutely spectacular, not that she doesn't already, but she just won't listen. Oh, that impulsive girl."

Andrew sighed as he grabbed his cologne.

"That's just one of the million reasons I love her."

Andrew straightened his collar again before walking out of the room. As he closed the door, he noticed Rebecca walking down the hall.

"Ah, are you all ready, Andrew?" Rebecca said.

"Not quite. Misty's getting some makeup put on, and I want to wait for her."

"Yeah, I know. Your father and I were over in Rose's room when Misty and Daisy passed by. We'll wait with Rose."

"All right, then."

Andrew and Rebecca walked over to Rose's room, and talked for a short while. Eventually, Daisy knocked at the door.

"Like, we're all ready to go," Daisy said as Rose answered the door.

"Okay, dear," Rose said, nodding. She turned to Rebecca and Andrew and said, "All right, the girls are ready. Let's go."

Andrew stood up and stretched a little. He walked out into the hall where the others were waiting. As he walked out, he took notice to Misty, adorned with makeup and a blue hair band. Andrew laughed quietly as he approached Misty.

"You know, Misty," Andrew started, "you really don't have to go through so much trouble. You look better than fine even without any makeup."

Misty smiled, and said, "Oh, Andrew, you know how big of an even this is. I want to look my best for you."

Andrew gave Misty a hug and a kiss, quietly saying, "thank you."

Afterwards, they all walked to the Indigo League stadium. The stadium was swamped with people standing outside, browsing the many temporary shops and restaurants. Andrew and the others entered the stadium, catching stares from the spectators passing by. Inside was a long reception desk and signs directing the spectators to various seating areas. A sign hung above the empty end of the desk reading, "**PRIVATE CHALLENGER INVITEES**."

Andrew and the others walked over to the end of the desk.

"Good morning, Mister Masako," the receptionist said.

"Good morning," Andrew replied.

"May I please see your registration ticket, mister Masako?"

"Yes," Andrew said, pulling the ticket out of his wallet. "Here you go."

The receptionist looked at the ticket, and then entered some data on a computer next to her.

"Everything seems to be okay," the receptionist said. She handed the ticket back to Andrew, and pointed down a hallway, saying, "Just head down that hall there. Good luck, mister Masako!"

"Thank you," Andrew said before stepping to the side.

Misty, Rebecca, Alexander, and Rose approached the desk, and were directed down the same hall as Andrew. Daisy, Violet, and Lily were directed down a different hallway. Andrew, Misty, Rebecca, Alexander, and Rose walked down the hall and eventually into a preparation room.

They waited in the room for a few minutes, when all of a sudden, Lorelei entered.

"Hello, Andrew," Lorelei said calmly. "You seem to be doing well."

"I am," Andrew replied. "And how are you, Lorelei?"

"I'm fine. The other Elites and I just wanted to talk a little before you started battling."

As Lorelei finished her sentence, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance walked into the room.

"It's good to see you made it, Andrew," Lance said cordially.

"So this is the great Andrew Masako, eh?" Bruno said. "Little thinner than I expected."

"Don't let appearances fool you, Bruno," Agatha said. "I've seen his strength, and it is nothing to be made fun of."

Bruno stepped towards Andrew, holding out his hand. "It's good to meet you, mister Masako. The name's Bruno."

Andrew returned Bruno's offer for a handshake. Bruno tried to clamp down as hard as he could on Andrew's hand. Andrew tightened his grip back on Bruno's hand, saying, "Please, call me Andrew."

"Well, I'll say one thing," Bruno said, smiling, "For a skinny guy, you sure have a strong, manly grip!"

Andrew nodded, and saying, "Well, I climb Mount Moon every once in a while for the fun of it."

"Spoken like a man of the mountain!"

Agatha hobbled up, propping herself up with an old whittled cane. She leaned in towards Andrew, her old eyes gazing into his.

"You've got that fire in your eyes, boy," Agatha said. "I have a feeling you'll do well."

"Thanks."

A speaker in the room said, "The first match will begin in ten minutes. Please make any final preparations now."

Lorelei sighed. "Well," she said, "I would have liked to talk some more, but it's almost time for the battle. Oh, if only we'd come sooner."

"Oh, it's okay," Andrew said, "I was only here for a few minutes myself."

"All right then, we'll be off. See you on the battlefield!"

"Will do."

Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance all left the room.

"It seems like nothing's changed about any of them," Alexander said. "Well, except that Agatha hasn't been aging well."

Andrew released his Pokémon. As they stood in front of him, he said, "All right, guys. Here we are, all the way at the Elite Four. If we can get through these battles, you'll all be officially recognized as the best Pokémon in the region! Now, I know you all will do well. I have great faith in your strength. Though I highly doubt it, in the event that the Elites' Pokémon should prove too strong, I'll follow up with Nidoking."

Nidoking roared in agreement.

"Five minutes left until the battle. Please make your way to the field."

"Well, this is it!" Andrew said. He recalled his Pokémon, and walked out of the preparation room. As he walked down the curving hallway to the field, the hallway widened. A woman was waiting some distance from the hallway.

"Ah, there you are, mister Masako," the woman said. "Please, wait here until you're announced. Are these your four supporters?"

"Yes, they are," Andrew said.

"Please, come with me."

The woman walked out towards the field, Misty, Rebecca, Alexander, and Rose following.

"Good luck, honey!" Rebecca said, giving Andrew a hug.

"Make me proud, son!" Alexander exclaimed, giving Andrew a firm handshake.

"Give it your best shot!" Rose said, giving a thumbs-up.

"I know you'll win, dear," Misty said calmly, giving Andrew a long kiss.

As they walked away, Andrew stretched and warmed himself up a little.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer's voice boomed in the stadium, "we welcome you to the Elite Four Competition!"

The crowd began to cheer.

"In the next four days, our challenger will battle with the Elite Four, the strongest and most ruthless trainers in the entire Kanto region!"

The crowd cheered again.

"And now, I introduce our challenger."

"All right, here we go," Andrew said quietly. He took a deep breath to clear his head, and began to walk forward.

"Please welcome Andrew Masako!"

The crowd erupted in deafening cheer as Andrew proudly walked into view and up to the trainers' box at his end of the field.

"And now, please welcome the first of the Elite Four, Lorelei Mutawa!"

The crowd again cheered loudly as Lorelei walked to her end of the field.

The referee raised his hands, and said, "This is a one-on-one battle between trainer Andrew Masako and Elite Lorelei Mutawa. There is no time limit, and unlimited substitutions are allowed by either side."

The large screens in the stadium displayed a flashy animation of a golden coin flipping around in the air. On one side was an image of Lorelei; on the other side, Andrew. It landed with Andrew's side up.

"Andrew Masako will throw the first ball," the announcer said.

Andrew took another deep breath, and grabbed Charizard's ball. "Here goes," he said quietly. As he threw the ball, he shouted, "Charizard, go!"

Charizard appeared on the field, roaring proudly and spreading its wings.

Lorelei threw her first ball, and a Dewgong appeared on the field.

"All right, Charizard, let's start this off fast. Use Dynamicpunch!"

"Dodge and hit it with Bubblebeam!"

Charizard launched itself towards Dewgong, pulling its arm back. Dewgong flipped into the air as Charizard neared, and prepared to counterattack with Bubblebeam. However, Charizard jumped in expectance of Dewgong's dodge, and scored a very hard hit.

Dewgong flew through the air, and rolled as it landed. It slowly got back up, and tried to attack, but was struck right back down as Charizard executed an Iron Tail attack.

"Dewgong is unable to battle!" the referee shouted.

Next up was Cloyster.

"Cloyster, quickly! Use Water Gun!"

Cloyster attempted to shoot jets of water at Charizard, which were dodged with ease.

"Charizard! Use Focus Punch!"

Charizard flew into the air and prepared for its attack as Lorelei ordered Cloyster to defend itself. Charizard swooped down and struck Cloyster, sending it spinning wildly towards the wall. When it hit the wall, it sharply bounced off, breaking one of the spikes of its shell in the process. When it finally stopped spinning, a large crack ran down the side of its shell.

"Cloyster is unable to battle!"

Lorelei chose a Slowbro to battle with next.

"Charizard, use Crunch!"

"Slowbro, Psychic!"

Charizard charged up to bite Slowbro, but began to slow and lose control as Slowbro unleashed its Psychic attack. Charizard fought through the Psychic attack and bit Slowbro on the head. Slowbro gripped its head in pain as Lorelei ordered for it to use Snore. Slowbro did so, and Charizard began to swagger slightly before falling asleep.

"Charizard, Sleep Talk!"

Charizard stood, still asleep, and quickly whipped the Slowbro with an Iron Tail attack. After throwing the Slowbro into the wall, knocking it out, it fell back on the ground, fast asleep. Lorelei replaced Slowbro with Jynx, whom she then ordered to use Dream Eater.

Jynx walked up to Charizard, and put its hands out. Just as it began to absorb energy from Charizard, it woke up.

"Quickly, Fire Spin!"

Charizard jumped to its feet and blasted Jynx away in a flaming tornado. Last up for Lorelei was her purple Lapras.

"Lapras, use Hydro Pump!"

"Dodge and use Swift!"

Charizard flew up into the air, avoiding several blasts of water, while at the same time, counterattacking with Swift. Once Lapras stopped using Hydro Pump, Andrew ordered Charizard to use Seismic Toss on it. Charizard descended straight over top of Lapras, and picked it up. Charizard took Lapras high into the air, and then dived at full speed to the ground. After smashing Lapras into the ground, Charizard landed at the opposite end of the field. Lapras didn't move.

"Lapras is unable to battle! The victory goes to Andrew Masako!"

The crowd cheered wildly as Lorelei recalled Lapras, and met Andrew at the center of the field for a handshake.

"I knew this battle wasn't going to last long," Lorelei said.

"You did your best, Lorelei." Andrew replied.

The next day, Bruno was up for battle. He was to start off, and called out an Onix. Andrew brought out his Starmie.

"Onix, use Bide!"

"Starmie, use Surf!"

Onix snaked towards Starmie, bracing to receive its attack. Starmie began to spin as it generated a large wave. It rode the crest of the wave as it splashed down on Onix. Onix was knocked cold.

Onix was replaced by Hitmonchan. Starmie quickly took it and the Hitmonlee after it out with Psychic. A golden-brown Onix that followed was beaten down with Bubblebeam, and the brown-green Machamp that led Bruno's team was flung around mercilessly with another Psychic attack.

Day three involved Agatha and her ghost and poison Pokémon.

Andrew was to start. He released Gardevoir to the field.

All of Agatha's Pokémon—two Gengar, Golbat, Haunter, and Arbok, all fell easily from Gardevoir's psychic attacks.

Andrew lay awake in bed that night.

"What's wrong, honey?" Misty asked.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking about tomorrow," Andrew replied.

"Are you worried?"

"No, I'm not worried."

"Then what's on your mind?"

"I'm just thinking about the battle tomorrow. The greatest of the Elites against me. _The_ best of the best, and me."

Misty rolled over top of Andrew, putting her arm around his shoulder.

"So why are you losing sleep over it?"

"It's not like I'm losing a lot of sleep. It's only ten thirty."

"Let me guess, you're excited about it, aren't you?"

"Yep."

Andrew thought for a moment. He then pulled Misty completely over top of him, staring into her eyes.

"You know," Andrew said quietly, "I probably wouldn't have been able to come this far if it weren't for you."

"Don't be so modest, dear. Your skill is yours alone."

"Well, think about it for a moment. Through my entire training career, who was always right there by my side?"

Misty closed her eyes slightly, and smiled.

"Misty, honey, you were my confidant. You were the one I could always turn to when I was down. You were always there, cheering me on. Dear, I honestly think that I would have not gotten anywhere near this far if it weren't for you."

Misty smiled warmly, and gave Andrew a soft kiss. "Well don't worry; I'll always be with you. Now get some sleep, dear. Tomorrow's going to be a big day."

Andrew chuckled quietly, and eventually fell asleep.

The next day, Lance and Andrew stared each other down across the battle field. The coin-toss determined Lance to throw the first ball.

"Gyarados, go!"

"All right, Nidoking! Let's freakin' do this!"

"Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!"

"Nidoking, counter it with Ice Beam!"

Gyarados spat a giant column of water towards Nidoking. As the water drew near, Nidoking opened its mouth and unleashed a blue spark-like beam that began to freeze the oncoming torrent. Gyarados didn't stop its Hydro Pump in time, and wound up being frozen solid.

"Nidoking, Thunder."

Nidoking bowed its head, and a large bolt of lightning shot from the tip of its horn, completely overtaking the frozen Gyarados. It fell limp to the ground.

"Gyarados is unable to battle."

"Dragonair, go! Use Outrage!"

"Outrage, eh? Nidoking, let's counter that with your own! Thrash!"

The two Pokémon charged at each other, attempting to pummel one another mercilessly. Eventually, Dragonair began to lose its energy, and backed off.

"Dragonair, use Ice Beam!"

"Nidoking, dodge it and Ice Beam it right back!"

Nidoking jumped to the side to dodge the Ice Beam attack, but it struck it in the foot, causing it to start freezing to the ground. Nidoking shook its leg and broke free of the ice, then launched an Ice Beam attack right back at Dragonair. Dragonair, exhausted from the previous brawl, wasn't able to move away swiftly enough to dodge the Ice Beam, and was frozen solid. The ice surrounding it broke as it crashed to the ground.

"Dragonair is unable to battle!"

Lance called a second Dragonair out onto the field.

"Dragonair, use Dragon Rage!"

Dragonair began to twitch and cast bizarre bolts of purple electricity towards Nidoking. Nidoking hopped around, dodging the bolts.

"Nidoking, use Ice Beam."

Nidoking shot its Ice Beam at Dragonair, but Dragonair gracefully dodged it.

"Fine then. Nidoking, use Shock Wave!"

Nidoking flung its arms outward, releasing a wave of electricity that hit Dragonair, causing it to twitch and fall to the ground, paralyzed.

"Dragonair, try to get up!"

"Nidoking, Ice Punch."

Nidoking charged up and punched Dragonair into the ground, making a small crater in the ground.

"Dragonair is unable to battle!"

"Aerodactyl, go!"

Aerodactyl appeared on the field.

"Aerodactyl, use Dragonbreath!"

Aerodactyl flew high into the air, and spewed breath of flame down towards Nidoking.

"Nidoking, counter it with Water Gun."

Nidoking breathed in, and spat a jet of water that overpowered Dragonbreath, and struck Aerodactyl hard.

"Nidoking, follow it up with Thunder."

Nidoking struck Aerodactyl, and it fell out of the air.

"Nidoking, finish it off with Iron Tail."

Nidoking ran up to Aerodactyl, recovering from the shock, and slammed it into the ground.

"Aerodactyl is unable to battle!"

"This is where your fun ends, Andrew! Dragonite, go!"

Lance threw his final Pokéball, releasing his most powerful Pokémon, a pea-green Dragonite.

"Dragonite, use Hyper Beam!"

"Nidoking, Protect."

Nidoking crouched down and began to glow. Dragonite's Hyper Beam swerved around Nidoking.

"Nidoking, Ice Beam."

"Dragonair, Protect!"

"Nidoking, do a Rain Dance."

Nidoking stood, and began to swerve around as clouds gathered in the sky, and rain began to fall.

"Dragonite, use Bubblebeam!"

"Nidoking, dodge it!"

Nidoking jumped to the side, avoiding the Bubblebeam attack.

"Now, Nidoking! Give it a nice, strong Thunder attack!"

Nidoking stomped on the ground several times, curling slightly. Eventually, it stood with its arms out, releasing a powerful bolt of lightning straight into the air. The bolt came down and struck Dragonair. It wavered in the air before regaining itself.

"Dragonair, use Hail!"

Dragonair began to glow, and the sky above began to drop hailstones instead of rain, pelting Nidoking.

"All right, Nidoking! Let's finish this up! Blizzard!"

"Oh no," Lance said to himself quietly. "Dragonair, quickly! Protect!"

Dragonair curled itself up in midair as Nidoking began to breathe deeply. It flung forward and breathed an icy blast of snow and arctic wind. Dragonair's Protect failed, and the Blizzard hit, freezing it solid. It fell and landed on the ground with a loud thud as the storm clouds dissipated.

"Dragonair is unable to battle. The victory goes to Andrew Masako!"

The crowd fell silent in surprise.

"He did it," Lance said to himself as he returned Dragonite.

Suddenly, the crowd exploded in cheer, the intensity of which neither Andrew nor Lance had heard before.

"Andrew Masako has defeated Lance! He has beaten the Elite Four!" the announcer's voice blared over the crowd.

"He won! He won! I can't believe it, he won!" Rebecca shouted, hopping around madly.

"Just like I had hoped!" Alexander shouted to Andrew.

"Way to show 'em who's boss, Andrew, yeah!" Rose shouted.

Misty, Rebecca, Alexander, and Rose all walked over to Andrew. Misty threw her arms around Andrew and gave him a long kiss.

"I knew you could do it, Andrew." Misty said calmly.

"Well, congratulations, Andrew!" Lance shouted as he walked across the battlefield.

Andrew turned and looked at Lance, still holding Misty in his arms.

"I'm quite surprised. I didn't expect your Nidoking to be so strong."

Nidoking, who was still standing on the field, roared loudly.

"Yeah, he's also got an ego to match," Andrew joked. Nidoking roared again, over-exaggerating its movements as everyone laughed.

Several people ran onto the field, and directed Andrew and his companions to a podium at the front of the reserved section of the stands. As Andrew passed, his friends all shouted their congratulations on his victory. A gigantic and ornate trophy sat centered on the podium. A man was standing next to the podium, and spoke when Andrew reached the podium.

"Andrew Masako, I, Jim Hollenn, chairman of the Pokémon League in the Kanto region, do hereby present you with this trophy of your victory, and award you the title of the first official Grand Champion of the Kanto Region."

The chairman placed a violet sash, trimmed in golden rope, around Andrew.

"I really don't know what to say," Andrew said into the microphones on the podium. "I've trained so hard and for so long for all of this. I've gone through a lot of hardships to get where I am now. But I've had so many people that were there for me, and one special person that's been by my side since the very beginning." He put his arm around Misty, and continued, "If it weren't for their support, I wouldn't be here today. But that's not all I want to thank. I want to thank _you_, my fans, for cheering me on the whole time!"

Andrew picked up the very heavy trophy and held it high for all to see, as the crowd cheered madly. He took the trophy across the front of the lowest seats in the stands, holding it high. Dozens of people reached out to touch both Andrew and the trophy as he passed. He made his way back to the field, and released all of his Pokémon.

Andrew stood with his Pokémon behind him. He wrapped one arm around Misty, holding the trophy high in the other, supported by Nidoking. Rebecca, Alexander, and Rose all stood beside Andrew as a photographer snapped a victory photograph.

As Andrew lowered the trophy, he joked calmly, "Well, there's definitely one for the scrapbook!"

He walked off the field, waving to the crowd as he cradled the trophy in his other arm. Misty, Rebecca, Alexander, Rose, and Andrew's Pokémon all followed.

"So that's it, now," Alexander said after they had gotten back to the preparation room. "You're the Grand Champion!"

Andrew set the heavy trophy on a desk, and replied, "Yes, I suppose I am."

Misty wrapped her arms around Andrew, saying, "You're not just _the_ Grand Champion, you're also _my_ Grand Champion." She gave him a long kiss.

"Well," Andrew said afterwards, "we can save _those_ festivities for later!"

Just then, Lance and the other Elites walked in through the door.

"Congratulations, Andrew!" Lorelei said. "I knew you could do it!"

"Yes," Agatha said. "I sensed it immediately when I looked into your eyes."

"It takes a lot to get to Lance. It takes a lot more to actually beat him, and you're the first person to ever have what it takes. You sir, have earned my respect," Bruno said, offering up another very manly handshake.

"Well, now that you've won," Lance said, "I suppose it's time to present you with the prize they don't talk about publicly."

"Another prize?" Alexander asked, "like what?"

"This," Lance said, pulling out a stiff golden envelope.

As Andrew took the envelope and opened it, Lance said, "This is your winnings for defeating us—five million dollars."

"Five million?!" Alexander shouted in confusion. "Oh, if only I'd beaten you the first time around!"

"Relax, Alexander," Lance said calmly. "You came close to beating me, but my Dragonite has always been way too much for anyone to handle. That is, I suppose, until now."

"Well, you really kind of dug your own grave with that one, Lance."

"Yeah, I know. But we all make mistakes."

"Well, I've got to get going," Lorelei said, "I'll see you later, Andrew!"

"I'll be going, too," Agatha said. Before walking out of the room, she turned and said to Andrew, "Congratulations on your victory, young one. You've earned it."

"I'm going to head out as well," Bruno said. "My training calls."

Lance put his hand on Andrew's shoulder, and said solemnly, "I, as well as Lorelei, have been watching your progress for many years now. I'm just surprised that this day has come so soon. Congratulations, Andrew."

"Thanks. It was an honor to battle you."

"I appreciate it. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be taking my leave now."

Lance walked out of the room.

"All right, everyone!" Andrew exclaimed, "Let's head back to the hotel, because there's gonna' be a nice big party to celebrate!"

Everyone cheered, and left the stadium.


End file.
